I'm falling down, please help me
by musicalfreak22
Summary: Rory runs away from Stars Hollow after trying to commit suicide because of her perfect life. Something different I'm trying. Please read and review!
1. Escape

**I'm falling down, please help me**

**Summary:** Rory Gilmore lives in Stars Hollow, but she's slowly falling down. She's not happy, she feels abandoned...So she goes to New York. She meets someone in a similar situation. They will both help each other to stand on their feet again. Literati 'cause anything else is a waste (besides JavaJunkie).

**Disclaimer:** Nope, don't own anything beside DVDs of the show.

**Rating:** T  for language, could be raised to M later.

**Author's note:** This is an idea that has been on my mind for a while now, so I decided to write it down before I lost it. Don't worry, I'm not leaving my other fics aside. I am just short on ideas for these at the moment.

**1-Escape**

Not happy, abandoned...so fucking not happy. That's what Rory Gilmore would answer if you asked her how she was feeling. Of course, she had a roof over her head, a mother, a father, a stepfather and friends, but that was it. Her mother, Lorelei Victoria Gilmore, was too caught up in her relationship with Luke Danes (the stepfather and owner of the town's diner) to give her the attention she needed. As for her father, Christopher Hayden, he only showed up when it suited him, which wasn't very often. And the friends, well...she wondered if she could even call them that. Lane Kim, her supposedly best friend, was being distant ever since that Dave Rygalski guy had shown up at school. He was a cool guy, but she was losing them. She was losing her best friend. Dean Forrester, her current boyfriend, she didn't even like him. She was with him because she was in desperate need of attention. But even him, she was losing him. His sport meetings with his friends came before his girlfriend.

That's why she was doing this, she reminded herself as she was waiting for a bus for New York to pull up. Maybe by leaving she would make them realize she existed. But she didn't want to get her hopes up, scared that she would be disappointed in the end. When the right bus arrived, she stepped in with no backward look. She sat at the back, put on her headphones, her CD player blasting The Clash, she pulled a book out of her duffelbag and settled in for the trip. After a while, she realized she couldn't concentrate, so she stared out the window. A tear rolled down her cheek. No, there was no way she was gonna cry. She couldn't fucking cry. They were not worth it. They didn't deserve it. It was all their fault if she was doing this. They all pushed her away? Look where it led her!

Hours later, the bus finally stopped somewhere in New York. Rory stepped out of it, put her duffelbag over her shoulder and walked into a random direction. She ended up in Washington Square Park, a few blocks down the bus station. She sat down on an empty bench and looked around before pulling out the same book she had taken out in the bus and began to read. More hours later, the night had settled down on the city. Rory's head was resting on her duffelbag. She was sleeping. A boy approached and sat on the bench but he was too concentrated in his book to notice Rory, who had woken up after the buy had sat. She looked at him: seems about her age, dark messy hair, dark eyes, dark clothes, looks cute, though...anyway. She looked at him, expecting him to notice her, but no reaction.

"Hey" she said sharply.

Nothing.

"Hey you!" she said, louder this time.

He turns to her, annoyed that someone disturbed him. They locked eyes for a moment before he spoke.

"What do you want?" he asked a little bitterly.

"I want you to get away from my bench. I was sleeping and you disturbed me."

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know it was YOUR bench!" he snapped. "And why are you sleeping here? Nights are dangerous in New York. Especially for a girl."

"Well, thanks for the warning, but I can defend myself. Now, if you'll please leave, I'd like to sleep."

"Why do you sleep here?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't care, I'm just curious. Even homeless peaple don't dare sleep in parks at nigt. Why would you? Want to be the exception that confirms the rule?"

"I don't have enough money to get a hotel room, okay? Anyway, I don't even know where the hotels are. Now leave me alone, I need my rest."

"Ah ha. You're new in town and have nowhere to go. Why are you here, in the first place?"

"None of your business. Anyway, I don't know you, why would I tell you?"

"You don't know me? I can fix that. Hi, my name's Jess, I'm 17, I was born in New York. What about you?"

Rory hesitates for a moment before answering.

"I'm Rory, I'm also 17, and I was born in Hartford but my mother and I moved to a little town named Stars Hollow a few years later. Happy?"

"Doesn't tell me why you're here."

"I don't want to talk about it now, ok?" she said, getting mad.

"Ok! Sorry! Look, I know we barely know each other, but I don't like to know you're sleeping outside. I can let you borrow my bed, I'll sleep on the couch."

What? What was he doing? He would lay properly on the couch while a girl was sleeping in his bed? That was so not him! Rory's hand brought him back to reality.

"Hey, Jess! You spaced out on me here."

"Sorry. What were you saying?"

"I was asking if your parents would mind."

"I don't know my father and my mother's always somewhere partying. She doesn't come home very often."

"Oh, well...ok then. Thanks."

"No problem. Come on, let's go before it gets too late."

"Ok."

They both stood up, Jess taking Rory's bag, and they made their way to Jess's place, Jess wondering all the way what was wrong with him. Once there, Jess led Rory to his bedroom.

"Don't pay attention to the cleaning. Let's say that I wasn't planning on inviting someone tonight" Jess told her before opening the door to his room.

"Oh, it's okay. As long as your dirty underwears arent's lying everywhere, I don't mind."

"Dirty underwears?"

"Yeah. I've met someone a long time ago whose dirty underwears were lying all around the bedroom."

"Ewww."

"You have no idea."

Jess opened the door and dropped Rory's bag near the bed. Rory entered seconds later and was completely amazed by all the books that were in the bookshelf and elsewhere in the room.

"Wow" she said.

That comment surprised Jess.

"Wow?" he asked.

"Yeah" Rory said, coming out of her reverie. "Sorry, it's just...are all those books yours?"

"Yeah."

"Have you read them all?"

"At least 10 times each."

"Wow."

"Déjà vu. You like to read?"

"I love to. Makes me go away from my problems for a while. That's an escape."

"I understand. Quite the same for me."

She looked at him for a moment, realizing how similar their lives were. They'd known each other for less than two hours and they already had a particular link between them. Jess realized the same thing. A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of his lips as he looked down. Rory smiled a little, looking back at Jess's books.

"So, you wanna sleep?" Jess asked after a moment.

"Huh, yeah" Rory answered before she yawned.

"Ok. I'll just go get clean sheets. You can...I don't know...do whatever you want while I'm gone."

Rory nodded and Jess left. Rory looked around the room to take in what was composing her new friend's world: hundreds of CDs, including The Clash and The Ramones, lots and lots of books, a single bed, a nightstand with a simple lamp on it, posters of The Clash and Metallica on the walls, a dresser and a closet. Jess came back minutes later and saw her browsing his books. He watched her a couple of seconds: that girl was gorgeous. She wasn't anything like the other girls he knew or had met before. Maybe she was the lifeline he needed...He shook his head and made his way around the bed.

"Anything interesting?" he asked as he began to take the current sheets off of the bed.

"I don't even know half of the books there are here. Could I borrow some?"

"Sure. If you don't mind notes in the margins."

"Notes in the margins?" she asked, turning around.

"Thoughts, opinions. I always write them in the margins as I read."

"Oh. Interesting. I don't mind them. Could give another perspective to the story."

"Ok."

"You want some help?" she offered after a moment.

"Huh...sure."

Minutes later, the sheets were done to be changed and they both sat down on the bed, side by side.

"You know, you can stay here as long as you want" Jess said after a moment of silence. "My mother's barely here...and I could use the company."

Rory chuckled.

"Thanks Jess. I wasn't expecting that."

"No problem."

He furtively looked at her and saw that she was looking down, tears falling from her eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

She shook her head no.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"It's just...you wanted to know why I'm here, didn't you?"

"Yes. But I don't want to force you. You can tell me when you're ready."

"I'm ready now. I have to tell someone before I explode."

"Well, go on then."

And she told him all about her life of the last couple of years. At the end of her story, she couldn't stop herself from crying. Jess, not really knowing what to do, rubbed her back lightly until she had calmed down.

"Thanks for listening to me" she said, wiping her eyes.

"No problem. You should sleep now. You seem exhausted."

"I am. The day's been long."

"I know. Come on, I'll let you get changed. Tell me when it's okay to come in."

"Sure."

He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Once alone, Rory sighed deeply. She barely knew that guy, but they had something special going on between them. She felt attracted to him and she didn't even know why. She had never felt that way before, so why now? Dean had never inspired any of the feelings she was feeling at that moment, so why did she feel them around Jess? As she was finishing that thought, she stood up to reach in her duffelbag for her pyjama. Seconds later, she pulled out black sweatpants and a white tank top and she got changed. She suddenly heard a door slam shut.

_**Tell me what you think, please! I want some comments before I post the second chapter. I have an idea on where this is heading, but still, tell me if I should continue.**_


	2. Unaffected

_**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! All your great comments answered this question: do I continue this story or not? Yes, I continue it. Enjoy!**_

_**Orangepunk - I think nobody never really pictured this perspective, that's one of the reasons why I'm trying this. Let me know if this is heading somewhere. I think it does, but I like to have the opinion of other people to be sure.**_

**2- Unaffected**

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Jess was going through a similar train of thoughts… well…He didn't know why, but that girl was different from the others he knew and yet she was making him feel things he'd never felt before. He couldn't quite identify what he was feeling, but he knew that she was special. She wasn't a girl among others. She was one he would take care of at any price. His thoughts suddenly stopped when he heard keys in the locket of the door. Seconds later, his mother entered the appartment and slammed the door shut. Seeing the way she was walking, Jess understood she was drunk. Once again.

"Hey, Jessie!" she drunkenly exclaimed when she saw him. "Why are you still up? You have school tomorrow, don't ya?"

"Why do you care?" he mumbled. "Where's your boyfriend?" he asked with his normal tone.

"Oh, we broke up."

"Figured. I'm going to go to sleep. I have school tomorrow."

"Night Jessie!"

"Yeah. 'Night."

He turned around and closed his eyes before knocking lightly on the door and entering.

"You can open your eyes" Rory told him.

Which he did. He saw her sitting on the bed, legs crossed.

"What happened? I heard a door close."

"Oh. My mother decided to come back, tonight. She and her boyfriend of the week broke up, so here she is. And fucking drunk. As usual."

"Your mom's an alcoholic?"

"Yup."

"Mine's a coffee addict."

"Great. At least it's not alcohol."

"You don't know her, sometimes you could think it's actually alcohol."

"Do you mind if I sleep in here tonight?" he asked, prefering to change the subject. "I don't want her to see me on the couch or she'll suspect things."

"It's okay. As long as we don't share the bed."

"Nah. I'll sleep on the floor."

"No."

"What?"

"You won't sleep on the floor."

"Why not?"

"This is your room. You should sleep in your bed. I'll take the floor."

"No way. I'll take the floor."

"Why?"

"You are my guest. The guest gets the bed. Period."

"Fine."

She slumped down on the bed and covered herself with the sheets. Jess, not minding there was a girl in the room, took off his pants and t-shirt. Wearing only his boxer, he layed down on the floor beside the bed with the sheets he had taken off of his bed earlier, not noticing the blush on Rory's cheeks.

"Night Rory."

"Night Jess."

The latter turned off the lamp.

_**Please review! Reviews are part of my motivation to update, so if you want the next chapter...you know what to do.**_


	3. Rough landing, Holly

**_Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your reviews were so great! Today I give two chapters because I'm really, really happy! Enjoy!_**

**3- Rough landing, Holly**

In Stars Hollow, the next morning, Lorelei entered her house, screaming her daughter's name. Not getting any answer, she thought Rory was still asleep, which would be surprising since she had school, so she went to her daughter's bedroom. She found it clean and empty, a few books and CDs missing. She then went to the answering machine and pressed play. She only heard her own message to Rory that was telling her she was spending the night with Luke. She panicked a little. She searched all around the house for a sign from Rory that could tell her where her daughter was. She finally found an envelope near the coffee maker with "Mom" written on it. With shaking hands, she pulled out the single sheet the envelope contained and read the short message Rory had left:

"_Mom,_

_I'm sorry for leaving like this, but this town doesn't feel like home anymore. I'm feeling like a weight for all of you. I feel like you all, but mostly you and Lane, pushed me aside. You because of Luke and Lane because of Dave. Please tell Lane I'm sorry. Tell also Dean we're over. I've never really liked him anyway. I dated him because I needed attention. Even that I couldn't some from him...I'll call when I'll be ready._

_Rory_"

With tears in her eyes, Lorelei sat down at the table. She dropped the letter on the floor, but she was too shocked to notice it. Hours and many unanswered phone calls later, Lorelei was laying in her bed, her eyes red and puffy from crying. Someone came burstling in the door, screaming her name. It was Luke. He got upstairs and found Lorelei in her bed. His heart tightened at the scene in front of him.

"Lor, what's wrong? Sookie called to tell you never made it to the inn."

"Rory, she..."

Her sobs stopped her.

"Rory? What happened?"

He suddenly realized his girlfriend daughter's lack of presence.

"Where's Rory?" he asked.

Lorelei cried.

"She's gone!" she finally managed to say.

"What? Why? Where?"

"I don't know where, but she's gone because of me! Because I neglected her, Luke! I was too caught up in our relationship to realize my own daughter's feeling of rejection!"

"Hey, hey. Where does that come from?"

"That's what she wrote in the letter she left. She was feeling like she'd been pushed aside by me and Lane."

Lorelei cried more, hiding her face in her pillow. Luke stood up and went to find the letter Lorelei was talking about. He found it minutes later on the kitchen floor. He read it many times before the information finally got to his brain. Rory was gone and nobody knew where.

_**Please review! I expect at least as much reviews as got after second chapter!**_


	4. Try honesty

**4- Try honesty**

The same morning, Rory woke up somewhere she didn't know. She finally remembered by looking all around her that she was in Jess's bedroom, in New York. She looked on the floor beside her and saw her new friend still sound asleep. She looked at the clock: it was 9. School could wait until the next day. She patiently waited for Jess to wake up, staring at the ceiling. Her friend finally emerged from his sleep an hour later. He groaned a little, feeling the floor under him, then he opened his eyes.

"Morning" Rory told him.

Startled, he turned to her. Right. There was a girl in his bed and he was on the floor. It never happened before. What was going on with him? Turning soft, Mariano?

"Morning" he finally answered, rubbing his face with one hand. "You okay?"

"Not really. Better than last night, though."

"Good."

He sat up and thought for a moment.

"Do you want to take a shower?" he asked after a while.

"Hum...yeah, I'd like to."

"Ok. I'll go see if my mother's still here. I'll be right back."

"Okay."

He stood up, put on his pants of the previous day and left the room. He came back a minute later.

"She's already gone. You can go" he told her.

"Okay. Thanks."

She got up, took a few things out of her bag and followed Jess to the bathroom.

"Here" he said, motionning for her to enter. "You can use anything you need."

"Thanks."

"I'll make breakfast while you're in the shower."

"Sounds good."

She smiled to him then brushed past him and closed the door. A minute later, Jess heard the water starting to run. Yep, there was definitely something wrong with him. There was a naked girl just on the other side of the door and the thought of entering and have his way with her never came to his mind. What was she doing to him? He shook his head and went to his room to put on a t-shirt. After that, he went to the kitchen and started breakfast. His mother came back from wherever she was just as the shower was stopping.

"Holy shit" Jess muttered to himself.

"What are you doing?" Liz asked him, seeing he was in the kitchen.

"Making breakfast. What are you doing here? I thought you had left."

"Oh, I just went to buy some cigarettes then I ran into one of the neighbors. And as far as I know, I live here too, so I don't have to justify myself. You're not the parent."

"Sometimes I seem to be, though" he muttered.

That's the moment Rory chose to come out of the bathroom, dressed in a black tank top and army cargo pants.

"So, is that breakfast...oh oh" she trailed off, stopping in her track.

"Who's this, Jess? One of those whores you keep bringing here?"

"Don't you dare talk about Rory like this! She's not a whore. She's my friend. Better get used to her 'cause she'll be staying here for a while, she has nowhere to go."

Liz just stormed out of the appartment, furious.

"I'm sorry" Jess said when the door was closed.

"Not your fault if she's like this."

"I know...whatever. You hungry?"

"Yes. Do you have coffee?"

"Yup. Help yourself. Mugs are in that cabinet."

He pointed a cabinet before taking two plates to put them on the table. He sat down an waited for Rory to join him.

"So, whores, huh?" Rory asked after a while.

Jess became a little uncomfortable.

"There were not whores..."he began. "They were girls that...I don't know..."

"Hey, don't torture yourself. You slept with them? Sowhat? I never got to that point with my boyfriend...well, ex-boyfriend now. It's frustrating. He was always treating me like I was the most fragile thing on earth. Anyway, meeting his friends to play sports was more important than me."

"Jerk."

"Yup. Fucking jerk. But hey, I was the town princess! What do you expect? There was no way he was gonna touch me the way I wanted him to! I hate that bastard. I hate that town!"

Tears came back to her eyes. She was sick and tired of that life. She just wanted to be treated like any other person, not like she was something fragile that when she did anything wrong, she was judged because it wasn't like her to do that. Maybe Jess was just what she needed. He hadn't judged her so far and he didn't seem like he was going to do it. He was giving her the attention she had needed these past years and he didn't want anything in return. Jess got up and pulled her up to him to comfort her. _Yes Mariano, you're definitely turning soft_, he told himself. Rory's sobs stopped after a while, so she pulled away a little from Jess.

"Thanks" she told him, wiping her tears.

"No problem."

"Sorry for crying like this, though..."

"Hey, it's okay. It's just your way of getting rid of the pain you've felt. It will go way as time will go by."

Rory just pushed herself back into Jess's arms.

"Hey, what about we make a pact?" Jess proposed after a moment of silence.

"A pact?"

"Yup. Every time you feel the need to be comforted, I'll be there. Same the other way around. Every time I'll feel the need to be comforted, you'll be there. This way, it will force me to be more open to the others. What do you think?"

"Okay."

She pulled away again and they shook hands, then they sat back down and finished their breakfast.

"What do you want to do today?" Jess asked as they were washing the dishes.

"I don't know. School's out of the picture for today, that's for sure. Hey, what about you show me around?"

"Huh...okay. There's a record store and a book store you really have to see. The owner of the book store's a real addict of litterature. You can ask him anything, he always has an answer."

"Interesting."


	5. Waiting Game

_**I'm updating even if I didn't get all the reviews I wanted…there's only one missing…anyway. I'm updating because I get so beautiful and amazing comments everytime I update. You're my reason to continue, so please keep reading and reviewing!**_

**5- Waiting game**

About 15 minutes later, they left the appartment and Jess brought Rory to the record store first. There, they bought a few records of bands they liked and that weren't available anywhere else. Then they went to the book store. It was the kind of store that you had toknow it was there 'cause you couldn't find it otherwise. When she entered the store, Rory felt like a kid at Christmas time. There were books everywhere, floor to ceiling, on two floors. She was in heaven. Jess walked to the counter and Rory followed.

"Hey Brian" Jess greeted the man.

The man lifted up his head from his book.

"Oh, hi Jess! How are ya?"

"Fine. And you?"

"Fine, thanks. Who's that beautiful girl with you?"

"Well, Brian, this is Rory. Rory, this is Brian Key, the owner of this shop. That's the one I told you who was a real addict."

"Nice to meet you, Rory" Brian greeted her, offering his hand to shake.

"Nice to meet you too, mr. Key" she answered, shaking his hand.

"Please call me Brian, just like Jess do. I feel old when someone calls me mr. Key."

"Sorry. Well, nice to meet you Brian" Rory corrected herself. "Do you mind if I looka round a little, Jess?"

"No, not at all" the latter answered. "Just tell me when you want to leave."

"Okay."

And she left the guys alone, browsing everything.

"Flavor of the week?" Brian asked Jess when he was sure Rory was out of earshot.

Jess stayed silent for a moment.

"I don't think so" he finally answered, looking at Rory, who was reading the back cover of a book.

Brian smiled.

"Have you finally found someone who doesn't think that your addiction to books isn't weird?"

Jess remained silent. Brian smiled wider.

"Have you known her for long."

"For less than 24 hours, but still, I feel like I've always known her. I don't know why."

"Maybe because you two are alike."

"Yeah, maybe..."Jess trailed off, thoughtful but still observing Rory. "I don't why, but this girl makes me want to be someone better...I'm sick, man."

Brian laughed lightly.

"Oh no, you're not sick..."Brian said, still laughing a little. "You are in love, Jess. Don't try to deny it. And I bet 20 bucks she's in love with you too. Just the way she looks at you explains a lot."

"How do you know I'm in love with her, huh?"

"The way you look at her, the way you presented her earlier. You've never introduced a girl like that to me before."

Jess thought for a moment: maybe Brian was right. Maybe he was in love with Rory. But he barely knew her! _Ever heard of love at first sight, Mariano?_ Sure he had, he just didn't believe in that bullshit. Well...until Brian's speech. For now, he would concentrate on getting to know her, then he'd see what would be his next move. Jess left Brian alone at his counter and went to sit in one of the armchairs near the back of the store. Brian smiled when Jess left, knowing he was right. About a half hour later, Rory came back to the counter.

"Hey, um...Brian, right? Have you seen Jess?"

"Yup. He's over there" Brian answered, pointing to where Jess was.

"Thanks."

She looked at Jess, who was concentrated in a book, for a minute, then headed his way. _Yup_, Brian told himself, _those two are difinitely in love with each other_. Rory just didn't know it yet and Jess didn't want to admit it. He smiled as he saw them leaving the store together.

Jess showed a little more around to Rory before they stopped in a little diner for dinner.

"I was thinking..." Jess began after they had ordered.

"Is this a good thing?"

"You're so funny. You don't know me that well, how do you know that my thinking isn't good?"

"I don't know. You don't seem like the thinking guy."

"Well, I am...sometimes."

"I see."

"Whatever. So, as I was saying, I was thinking that I don't even know your last name."

"Oh, well...my last name's Gilmore. I'm named after my mother too."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Rory isn't my real first name. It's a nickname."

"I thought so. What's your real first name, then?"

"Promise you won't laugh."

"Why would I laugh?"

"Just promise it, okay?"

"Okay, okay, I promise."

"Lorelei Leigh Gilmore."

Jess tried to stop himself from laughing, but a few chuckled escaped his throat nonetheless.

"I knew you would laugh."

She crossed her arms under her breast and looked away, upset. Jess finally stopped laughing and stood up to go sit down beside her.

"Jeez, you're touchy. I'm sorry, okay?" he softly and sincerly said, trying to make eye contact with her. "I didn't mean to upset you. I should have known you would be that irritable with the present situation."

"What present situation?" she asked bitterly, looking at him.

"Well...you leaving your town 'cause you felt rejected by everyone..."

Rory's look softened.

"I'm sorry. You're right, I'm very irritable. Just...give me some time, okay? I'm not always like that."

"I'm glad to hear it."

He got up again and went back to his seat.

"What do you want to do tonight?" he asked.

"I don't know. I don't feel like going out."

"What about we watch movies?"

"Sounds great."

Their meals arrived, so they began to eat.

"What's yours?" Rory asked a while later.

"Mine what?"

"Your last name."

"Oh. Mariano."

"Sounds a little exotic."

"My mom once told me I had italian origins."

"Explains the tan."

"The tan?"

"Yup. Your skin's darker than mine."

"I see. Origins don't necessairly explain the skin tone."

"Well, do you often sit under a bright sun?"

"No."

"Do you go to tanning salon?"

Jess chuckled.

"Do you seriously think I do that?" he asked.

"No. But we never know. Lot of guys do that nowadays."

"Well, I don't."

"So I think your tan comes from your italian side."

"Good to know."

"So, is Jess Mariano your real name, or Jess is a nickname for something less viril?"

"Jess Mariano is my real name, but I have a middle name."

"And what is it?"

"I don't know if I should tell you."

"Hey, you laughed when I told you my real name, now's my turn."

Jess hesitated for a moment, then mumbled something that sounded like "chmoseph".

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Rory asked.

"I said Joseph. Joseph's my middle name. Happy?"

She opened her eyes wide, not believing it.

"Joseph?" she repeated.

Then she started to laugh. Jess smirked. They finished eating a while later and left after Jess had payed, despite Rory's insistance on paying her own meal.

"Thank you" she finally said as they were heading to the appartment.

"No problem. You said you didn't have much money. I'm just trying to help you."

"Yeah, well...maybe I should find a job."

"Maybe you could come with me tomorrow. I work at night in a restaurant once or twice a week. They need waitresses."

"Sounds good. I'll go."

"Okay."

Minutes later, they arrived at their building and went up to the fifth floor, where the appartment was, which they found empty since Liz didn't seem to have come back from wherever she had gone to earlier. They settled down for their movie night: Jess made popcorn and Rory chose the movies, then the night began.

_**Please review! You know I need reviews if you want me to update!**_


	6. Words, Hands, Hearts

_**Hi guys! Thank you again for your reviews, it's so amazing the answer I get to this fic. I just can't believe it yet! Enjoy this chapter!**_

**6- Words, hands, hearts**

The next morning, Rory woke up to a heavy weight on her stomach. She opened her eyes: Jess's head was resting on her half revealed stomach. She looked at him thoughtfuly for a moment: he seemed so peaceful. She wouldn't wake him for anything. She didn't know why, but his head resting there felt right. She'd already awoken with Dean's head there and she'd always woken him right away. With Jess, everything felt right.

Jess awoke to something going up and down under his head. He soon realized it was Rory's half-naked stomach, but he didn't make a move. He felt so comfortable. Her skin was so soft, and it smelt wonderful. Unconsciously, he began to rub her bare skin with his finger tips and realized what he was doing when he felt that Rory had stopped breathing. Oh, she was awake...but he didn't mind. He continued nonetheless, then began to leave light kisses there after a while.

When she felt Jess's hand rubbing her stomach, she stopped breathing for a moment, wondering what he was doing. She then thought he was dreaming. But, soon enough, she realized he was awake when he began to leave butterfly kisses on her bare skin. After a while, breathing was becoming a hard thing to do and her hand began to move to Jess's hair. She ran it through his soft messy hair. A moment later, she felt him making his was up to her neck, hr hand still in his hair.

"Jess, what are we doing?" she managed to ask through all the emotions that were threatening to flow over her.

"I don't know" he sais in between kisses. "Your skin's...so soft...I just...couldn't stop myself... please...make me stop..."

"Why?"

"Because...this could lead to...something else that...I don't want you...to regret..."

"Why would I regret it?" she asked, swallowing hard.

He reluctantly stopped before touching her cheek with his hand and looking at her in the eyes.

"Because you are still fragile from what's been happening to you lately and you might end up saying I took advantage of you, which is something I don't want. You already mean a lot to me, even if I barely know you. I want you to be over your feeling of rejection, that you forget a little about your mother and your town. I want your heart to be completely fixed before we go any further."

"But...I want to be with you, Jess. I need you."

"I want to be with you too, Ror. I need to be with you. I need you. I just...I don't want to rush anything. You are emotionally fragile right now."

At this sentence, he closed his eyes and made their foreheads touch. Rory closed her eyes too, her hand reaching for the one that was on her cheek. They stayed like this for a moment, taking in and enjoying that new feeling that was flowing over them. They then kissed softly. After the kiss, Rory smiled, her eyes still closed, and she snuggled into Jess's arms. Jess gladly pulled her close to him, as if he wanted to prtect her from everything.

"Jess?" Rory called after a while.

"Hmmm?"

"How...how many girls have you slept with?"

"What? Why are you asking me this?" he asked a little too defensively.

"I just want to know, ok? I don't want their names, I don't to judge or anything. I just want to know. Don't be upset for this, please!"

He took a deep breath before kissing her forehead.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to sound like this. I thing there's been something like three or four girls. Not more."

"Why does your mother say you keep bringing girls here, then?"

"Because she's barely here. When she comes back, that's because her and her current boyfriend broke up and she also has a tendency to exagerate. She met only two girls 'cause the others, well...we weren't here."

"Oh. Okay. And these girls...were they girlfriends?"

"Hum...only one. But it didn't last long. The girl used me to lose her virginity. What a bitch she was. The others were one night stands I had met in parties or bars."

"Bars?"

"Don't ask."

"Okay then."

They stayed silent for a moment.

"How old were you when you lost your virginity?"

"Huh...fifteen" he answered with a hint of regret.

"You sound like you regret it."

"Well, it's not that I regret it. It's just...now that I think about it, I wish it would have been under different circumstances. I wish it would have been with a girl I knew more about her than her name. I wish it would have been with a girl I loved."

At that, he looked furtively at Rory. How he wished she could have been the first...well, she was gonna be the first he would make love with instead of just having sex. This may be his consolation. Rory, on her side, was thinking about the girl that had used Jess. How could she do that? How could a person do that? It's so cruel! Losing it's virginity should be something special, with someone you love, not on a hurry with someone you just pretended to love, that you manipulated. At that thought, she snuggled closer to Jess. In one way, she was glad she hadn't lost it to Dean 'cause she would have done the same thing than that girl had done with Jess. She would lose it to someone that cared enough about her to wait for her to be back on track before they'd do anything. She would lose it to someone she knew that would make her his priority. She would lose it to someone she cared about, that she trusted. Yep, to someone she loved. As if he was reading her thoughts, Jess kissed her just when she was finishing that last thought.

They finally spent almost all day on the couch, enjoying each other and their new relationship, until Jess had to go to work. Rory went with him, as planned, and she got a waitress job even if she didn't have any experience. She got her training during Jess's shift. After that, they both went back to the appartment, exhausted. Rory had gotten the same work schedule as Jess, so she wouldn't have any transportation problem. She had also met one of Jess's friends, Mike, who seemed to be a cool guy. When they reached the appartment, they immediately went to bed.

"Jess?" Rory called from the bed, seeing he was going to sleep on the floor again.

"Hmm?"

She moved to make place for him and patted the space next to her.

"Are your sure?" he asked.

She simply nodded.

"Ok then" he said before laying down near her. As soon as he was under the sheets, he pulled her to him. She put her hands on his bare chest, making him shiver, and kissed him shortly.

"Good night" she told him after they had parted away.

"Good night" he replied.

He kissed her on the forehead then they closed their eyes and they soon drifted off to sleep. The next morning, they woke up to the annoying sound of Jess's alarm-clock (he had set it the night before since Rory wanted to sign in in school). Rory was the first to open her eyes. She blinked to get used to the light then moved to get up, but Jess's arms kept her there.

"Jess, we need to get up."

He just groaned and burried his face in her neck. She smiled.

"Come on, Jess, school's important and I have to sign in before I go in class...Since I don't know where your school is, I need you to bring me there."

He groaned something that sounded like "fine" and let her go. She got up, took a few things out of her bag and went into the shower. Jess finally got up seconds later and, still half-asleep, he grabbed a few things from his drawers and went to the bathroom too, not realizing yet that Rory was already there. Since the door couldn't be locked (it was broken), he entered, stripped and pulled the curtain aside. Rory's scream finished to wake him up.

"Jess! What are you doing here?" Rory asked, trying to hide behind the curtain.

"Well, I was going to take a shower" he answered, holding a towel around his waist. "I'm sorry, I was still half-asleep and I didn't realize you were there. I'll just...I'll wait outside 'till you're done."

Not waiting for her to answer, he got out of the bathroom with only the towel to cover himself. Rory, on her side, wouldn't have really minded if they had taken their shower together...but she remembered Jess's words of the previous day when he had said he would wait for her to have her heart and morale fixed. So she finished to shower, got dressed and left the bathroom to leave it to Jess. She gave him a quick but passionate kiss on her way out. Jess entered the bathroom and showered.

_Yep_, he told himself, _there's definitely something wrong with me_. He usually wouldn't have backed off in front of a girl. He even was often the one to make the first step and had his way, no matter what the girl said. The girls...well...the girls he had slept with...never refused anything when it was coming to a little quickie with a guy that was willing to do it, so...But with Rory, he was backing off and he didn't know why. That girl was like a gift from God...even if he didn't believe in all that crap. She had appeared at a moment of his life where he needed someone to talk to, someone to make him walk away from the bullshit he was in. She was like the light at the end of the tunnel, the moon of his nights and the sun of his days. That girl was worth letting down his so well told friends. That was it: he loved her. He loved Rory. Jess Mariano loved Rory Gilmore. It was all new for him, but he would try hard to make this relationship work. He would first take care of Rory in her moments of weakness, then, when she would be alrgith again, he would do everything to make her happy. That was the price he was ready to pay to keep her near him. At that thought, he turned off the water, stepped out of the shower, got dressed and got out of the bathroom. He found Rory sitting at that kitchen table, drinking coffee and reading a book. He took a poptard out of a cabinet and put it in the toaster. While it was heating, he went behind Rory and circled her choulders with his arms.

"Whatcha reading?" he asked softly in her ear.

"_Howl_."

"I love that book."

"Me too. It's one of my favorite. I've read it maybe 40 times, but I never get bored."

"Yeah. Same here."

She smiled and turned to kiss him. He put a hand on her cheek to keep her there. As the kiss was deepening, Jess's poptart jumped out of the toaster. Jess groaned in the kiss and Rory giggled. He finally parted away, first because air was becoming a necessity, and second to go take his breakfast.

They left a while later for school, where Rory first filled registration forms and then she followed Jess in his classes, since they had given her the same schedule as him, on her request. At lunch time, they sat down at an empty table somewhere in the cafeteria with their meal and began to eat silently until three guys joined them and took the seats in front of them.

"Hey Mariano! Whatcha doing here? Didn't see us?" one of the guys asked.

"Hey guys. No, I didn't see you."

"Are you trying to get rid of us, Jess?" the same guy asked.

"No, why?"

"Because you're acting all like you don't care about us."

"Hey Kev" another guy said, "I think I know why Jess's hiding. Look at that chick with him. She's hot."

Jess clenched his teeth, getting mad.

"Hello! That chick, as you so well said" Rory chimed in, "isn't stupid. She's just here and she's listening. So if you guys don't have anything better to do than eyeing me up and down, Jess and I will just leave you alone."

"Oh, the lady's got a brain. Good for you, Jess" the one named Kev said. "Needed domination, man?"

"Don't you dare think that of her. Yes, she's smart, but she's no the kind of girl you guys want. I won't even let you touch her anyway. I'm done. With all of you. C'mon Rory, we're done here."

He and Rory stood up and started to walk away.

"Don't think we'll let you get way like this, Mariano!"

Jess opened his mouth to reply, but Rory took his hand to stop him.

"They're not worthit, Jess. Forget it" she told him softly.

They went outside and sat down under a tree on the school lawn, Rory between Jess's legs.

"These guys are your friends?" Rory asked incredulously after a moment of silence.

"Kind of."

"What do you mean?"

"They wew the only ones that noticed me around here. I'm not a socialite, so going to the others to make friends has never been my thing. These guys, they came to me one day and never let me down. I thought I owed them much, but I recently realized that I didn't owe them anything. They just gave me the attention I needed."

At that, Rory took his hand. How she understood that, he would never know. A while later, the bell rang for the beginning of the afternoon's classes. The afternoon went by quickly without any incident. Then weeks passed, and still, no major incident happened.

_**Reviews please! You know I need them to update! ;)**_


	7. It's easier to run

_**Hi everyone! Thank you again for your reviews, makes me continue! Enjoy!**_

**7- It's easier to run**

In Stars Hollow, Lorelei Gilmore's life was slowly coming back to normal. The first weeks had been hell, but she was slowly but surely going back to her normal self again. She just hoped her daughter would call someday to tell where she was, how she was and with whom she was. She so worried about her daughter the she had had many nights of resless sleep and insomnia.

As for the town's peoplem Rory's disappearance hadn't seem to affect them much, to Lorelei's dismay. Of course, Lane, Luke and Sookie were more affected than the others, but still, it was like there was no difference. And that made Lorelei upset.

Two months and a half had passed and Rory was her normal self again. She was happy where she was. Plus, Jess was making her happy. She couldn't have asked for more. There was only one think on her mind: calling her mother. She was running low on clothes and books and she didn't want to go back to her life in Stars Hollow. So one night, she decided to talk to Jess about something.

"Jess?" she called as they were reading.

"What?"

"You know, there's something I was wondering..."

"What is it?"

"Well, are you gonna kick me out someday?"

"What? Why would I do that?"

"I don't know. I just sometimes feel like I've abused of your hospitality."

"You haven't. This place's your home, now. And I love to have you here. Why are we talking about this?"

"Well, I'd like to have the rest of my clothes as well as my books and CDs, and other stuff..."

"Oh, so you're kind of asking to officialy move in, arent' you?"

"...yeah..."

"Well, officially, for me, you're already moved in. There's just some stuff missing that we can go take whenever you want. Like I told you, this place's your home. I want you here...unless you want to go back to your life there."

"To feel rejected again? No thanks!"

"When do you want to go take the rest of your stuff then?"

"This week-end."

"Ok."

"Where's the phone? I'll call my mother to tell I'm coming this week-end."

"Hold on."

He reached over to the bedside table to take the cordless phone. He gave it to his girlfriend and she dialed her mother's number. She got the answering machine.

"Hi mom, it's me. I'm just calling to tell I'm coming over this week-end to take my stuff. And I'm bringing my boyfriend. We'll talk if you want to talk. Bye."

And she hung up.

"That was short, but clear" Jess commented.

"Well, I meant it like that."

"There's a thing, though..."

"What?"

"There was a lack of emotion, don't you think?"

"Well...maybe. But how did you expect me to say that? It's not like I'm happy to go back there. And for the moment, I'm not my mother's biggest fan either. Can we please drop it?"

"Huh. Fine."

He turned his attention back to his book. Rory sensed there was something wrong.

"Jess, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Jess."

"You said to drop the subject, so I dropped it. You should be happy."

"Sure, I should, but I'm not because I think you didn't want to drop it. Was there anything else you wanted to tell me about that message I left t my mother?"

"No."

"What's wrong, then?"

"There's nothing wrong! I already told you that!"

"Fine! Be like that! You promised you would be more opened. I can see how well you hold your promises!"

With tat, she stormed out of the room. Jess mentally kicked himself for being such a jerk. That was how he would lose her, and he so didn't want that.

"Fuck man!"

He got up and left the room. He found Rory sitting on the couch, reading. He sat down next to her and tried to get her attention, but she was stubbornly ignoring him.

"Jeez Ror! Are gonne do that everytime we'll fight? 'Cause if you will, that's so not the way we'll solve anything!"

"Well, not telling me what's wrong won't solve anything either."

"I know that, and I'm sorry, okay? I'm trying really hard here to talk to you, but you're ignoring me."

"Oh, it's my fault now?"

"It's not what I said. It's our fault to the both of us, and I'm the one that caused this. But I'm trying to correct the situation here. And I need your help."

"Tell me why you went into monosyllabic mode, then."

"Because...it was looking like you didn't care what your mother would think. You left that message as if you had never left. You didn't say where you were, how you were. Nothing of that. She's probably worried sick about you, and all you say after two months and a half of silence is that you're going over there this week-end."

Rory, who had been looking at him during his speech, dropped her gaze in realisation.

"But Jess, how will I make her understand how hurt I was?"

"I'm sure it's already done. She probably realized it when she discovered you were gone."

"Yeah...maybe you're right. I'm sorry for storming off like this."

"Nah, it's okay. We're both two stubborn people. Things like this should be expected."

"Yeah. So, fight over?"

"Fight over."

She leaned in for a kiss.

"So, when do you want to leave?" Jess asked when they had parted.

"Tomorrow, after school. The sooner we'll get there, the sooner we'll be back."

"Okay. How much time does it take to go to Stars Hollow?"

"Two or three hours, maybe. I don't remember that well."

"It's ok. I just wanted to know so that I could picture around what time we would be there. Where are we gonna sleep?"

"I thought we could use my old bedroom. It will be easier and it won't cost anything."

"Alright."

Not long after that, they went to bed. In Stars Hollow, Lorelei got back from the inn late in the evening. The habit of calling for Rory was still there, but that night, it never occured to her to do that. She dropped her purse on the living room's table and went to check if she had had any messages. The first was from Luke, telling he would be late. The second was from Christopher, as well as the third and fourth. She deleted them all without even listening to them. The fifth was one she wasn't expecting anymore. Rory's voice filled the house for a minute. She was coming for the week-end to take her stuff. With her boyfriend. Uh oh...she hadn't told Dean yet that he and Rory were over. Maybe he had long figured, but still...Dean could be a little slow...This week-end would be eventful...

_**Please review!**_


	8. Still standing

_**Hi everyone! I know it's been a while since the last update, but school just started again and I'm already loaded with homework…anyway, here's next chapter. Enjoy!**_

**8- Still Standing**

During the night preceding her visit to Stars Hollow, Rory couldn't sleep much. As much as she hated to admit it, she was nervous. Always turning in the bed, the only thing she succeeded in was to wake Jess.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked sleepily.

"Sorry, I woke you up. Didn't mean to."

"It's okay. What's going on?"

"Can't sleep."

"Why?"

Sensing her stress, he slightly understood.

"You're nervous?" he asked softly.

She nodded quickly, avoiding eye contact.

"Why are you nervous?"

She didn't answer.

"Ror, why are you nervous?" he insisted. "Is it because of our visit into Stars Hollow?"

Rory hesitated a moment before nodding shyly. Jess pulled her to him and kissed her forehead.

"Don't be ashamed of your nervousness. I think it's just normal. I'm sure it will be alright. Your mother's probably nervous too. And I have to admit that I am a little nervous myself."

Rory smiled lightly. Then she yawned, soon followed by Jess. He kissed her lightly then pulled her closer to him. Finally finding the comfort she had been looking for, Rory soon fell asleep. The following day, they went to school and when they got back to the appartment, they packed quickly a few things for the week-end then left for Stars Hollow. They arrived there around 8 PM. Rory guided Jess to her mother's house and he parked his car in the alleyway, behind a jeep. They got out of the car, took their bags from the trunk and made their way to the front door. Once there, Rory hesitated lightly before knocking. They heard a few curses and a stumbling before the door opened. Lorelei froze when she saw who was there.

"Hi mom" Rory said nonchalantly.

"Hi" Lorelei answered. "I wasn't expecting you before tomorrow."

"Well, I thought that the sooner we would be here, the sooner we would go back."

Lorelei's apparent normal look weakened for a second and she looked down.

"You want to come in?" she finally offered a moment later.

"Thanks" Rory said before her and Jess stepped in. "We're sleeping in my old room" she added before heading in her former's bedroom direction, followed by Jess.

Lorelei followed them a moment later. She found them dropping their bags on the floor.

"You introduce me?" Lorelei asked, motionning between her and Jess.

"Oh, yeah. Mom, this is Jess Mariano, my boyfriend. Jess, this is my mother, Lorelei Gilmore. I told you about her."

"Nice to meet you mrs. Gilmore" Jess said, offering his hand.

"Same here, Jess" Lorelei answered, shaking Jess's hand. "How old are you?"

"17."

"Where do you live?"

"New York."

Lorelei's gaze flew to Rory.

"You were in New York?"

"Yeah. So what? I've lived at Jess's since the first day I got there. No need to worry here."

"Maybe there's nothing to worry about for you, but there is for me. I didn't even know where you were until a minute ago. Why didn't you call? Or write?"

"Because I wasn't ready to. Do you know how much it hurt to feel the way I was feeling? Do you what it feels like to be rejected, mom? Do you? I'm sure you don't 'cause it never happened to you!"

"You have no idea what you're talking about!"

They were screaming. Jess made a move to leave, but Rory held him back.

"You don't have to leave, Jess. My mother's leaving. We're done" she said coldly.

With that, she turned around to reach in her bag for her pyjama. Lorelei stayed there for a moment, stunned. Jess shot her a sympathetic look, that she didn't get, and she left the room. A few seconds later, they could hear footsteps in the staircase.

"Don't you think this was a little harsh?" Jess said softly.

"How did you expect me to react, huh? It's her fault if I am in this situation, Jess."

"Maybe, but you didn't leave much place for her to explain herself."

"You're defending her? You don't even know her! You don't know what I went through before we met!"

"Ror, calm down, okay? I'm not defending her. I'm just stating the facts, that's all."

Tears escaped her eyes.

"Come here" Jess said, motionning for her to come in his arms.

He enveloped her tightly in his arms while she was crying.

"I'm sorry Jess" she said through her tears.

"What for?"

"For getting rid of my frustration like this on you. And I didn't mean it to happen like this with my mom tonight. I thought she wouldn't be here so we could have settled down and we would have talked in the morning, when we would both have our minds rested."

"It's okay Ror. We're both tired of our trip on the road. Let's go to sleep."

"Yeah."

She let go of him and turned around to bent down to take her pyjama she had gotten out of her bag earlier. She then went to the bathroom to get changed. Meanwhile, Jess undressed, keeping only his boxers, pulled the sheets away, sat down on the bed and waited for Rory to come back. Which she did minutes later and she sat down beside Jess on the bed. They then both layed down and Jess pulled Rory to him. He kissed lightly the back of her neck.

"Good night" Rory said.

"Good night" Jess whispered in her ear. "Sweet dreams."

Rory smiled and turned around to kiss him shortly but passionately, then she burried her face in his neck and they soon drifted off to sleep. Upstairs, it was a completely different scenario. Lorelei was hurt. Her heart was hurt. It was hurt in two ways: by what her daughter had just told her and by the fact that Rory was right. She had never been rejected by anyone. It was her that rejected the others by fear of being hurt. And here she was, proven wrong. Being rejected could hurt, yes, but reject someone else could hurt too. She was the living proof. So she cried until there weren't tears anymore, until she was too exhausted to cry and stay awake. The next morning, she woke up with a start. Maybe the events of the previous night had just been a nightmare and it was Friday, the day she had spent most of the time being nervous about her daughter visiting this week-end. She slowly got up then went to her bathroom to shower. She came back a while later and went downstairs. There, she went in the kitchen to make herself some coffee, but found a fresh pot done with a note beside the coffeemaker: "_Sorry for last night. The trip on the road had me exhausted. Jess and I are out for breakfast, we'll be back later. A talk is in my today's schedule. What about you? –Rory-_"

"A talk is in my schedule too" Lorelei whispered to herself, sighing in relief.

The previous night had been real, but Rory was trying to make things better. If Rory could do it, she could do it too. She smiled lightly then poured herself a cup of coffee before going back upstairs to get dressed. A while later, she left for Luke's lightheartedly. Once there, she entered with a smile on her face and went to the counter to sit down. Seconds later, Luke emerged from the storage room and when he saw his girlfriend, he went to her.

"Hey" he said, nearing her.

"Hey" she answered happily.

He leaned down for a kiss.

"What's going on? I haven't seen you smile like this in a while" he inquired.

"Well...you remember yesterday when I told you that Rory was coming this week-end?"

"Yeah."

"She arrived last night."

"Oh."

"At first, it was pretty hard, I was surprised to see them since I wasn't expecting them before today and, well, Rory was all "the world can bite my ass", so...but this morning I found a note next to a fresh pot of coffee telling me she was sorry for last night and that we should talk today."

"Oh, that's great. I'm glad things are coming back to normal."

"Me too."

"Hey, you said "them", didn't you? There's someone with Rory?"

"Yup. Her boyfriend."

"Oh...wasn't she with Dean?"

"You read the letter she left when she left. She asked to tell Dean they were over. A thing I didn't do...but I think he got the message, since she left. Do you think he got the message?"

"I don't know, that guy can be a little slow to understand some things."

"Yeah."

"Hey, why don't you, Rory and her boyfriend don't come here for dinner tonight? I'll close early so we'll be alone."

"I think it's a good idea. 7 o'clock?"

"Sure. What can I get you for breakfast?"

"Today is danish day, isn't it?"

"One danish, got it. Comin' right up."

A minute later he gave her a danish. She shot him a look.

"Right, coffee" he said, turning to get a mug and the coffee pot. "I don't know why I forgot that."

"Thank you" she said before leaning in for a kiss.

Luke went back to work once they had broken apat. A while later, Lorelei went back to her house. She found Rory and Jess in Rory's bedroom, both sitting on the bed, reading. She smiled to herself before clearing her throat. Rory put her book down.

"Oh, hey" Rory said a little awkwardly.

"Hi guys. How was breakfast?"

"It was nice" Rory answered.

"Good. So...ready to talk?"

"Huh...yeah."

"Okay. I'll be in the living room."

"Okay."

Lorelei left and Rory turned to Jess.

"You wanna stay in here?" she asked him.

"Well, if you want me to go, I'll leave. I can go to that bridge you brought me to earlier."

"No, you can stay. Actually, I'd prefer you stay. Gives me moral support."

"Okay then. I'll be in here."

"Cool. See you later."

"Yeah, 'later."

They kissed briefly then Rory left for the living room. There, she sat down on the opposite side of the couch her mother was on.

"So...where to begin..." Lorelei began.

"Why did you push me aside like this?" Rory asked quietly after a moment of silence.

"I...I don't know. I was busy at work and I guess I was too caught up in my relationship with Luke. Things were going so well that I think I forgot about everything else, including you. Forgetting about you is something I'll never forgive myself for. Please believe me, Rory. I never meant for this to happen."

"I know mom" Rory said after another moment of silence. "It's just that...it hurt so much! And there wasn't only you, there was Lane too! My two best friends were rejecting me so I couldn't talk about anything! And Dean, ah! the jerk...his friends were more important than me. Everything was going wrong around me. What did I do to deserve that?"

"Honey, you didn't do anything, okay? It should have never happened."

"I know. But it did happen. We can't change the past."

"Yeah, I know. Believe me, I know."

An awkward silence followed.

"So, are we okay?" Lorelei asked after a moment.

"Yeah. I guess we can say we're okay."

Lorelei smiled and they both leaned in for a hug.

"So, how did you meet Jess?" Lorelei asked once they had pulled apart.

"Well...he disturbed me while I was sleeping on a park bench on the first night I was there. We fought a litle, but then he offered a bed to sleep in at his appartment, so I couldn't refuse. I've been living there since then."

"You were sleeping on a park bench, in New York, at night? Do you know what could have happened?"

"I know mom. But it didn't happen. Stop worrying."

"Sorry. When did the two of you get together?"

"Hum...maybe on the third day I was there."

"That early? You barely knew each other!"

"I know mom. But it's like we've always known each other, Jess and I. We're so much alike, an he was living a similar situation as me. We understand each other. He'd always made me his priority. He's giving me the attention I need and vice versa. It was like love at first sight."

"It's okay honey. I understand. You two look cute together. I don't know him much, but I think Jess might be a good guy."

Rory smiled.

"Thanks mom."

"You welcome. There's one thing I'm wondering, though..."

"No, we didn't have sex, if it's what you were going to ask."

"Okay. As I said, just wondering, since you two were sharing a bed..."

"It's okay. Sometimes I'm glad all of this happened or I would have never met Jess. I think I love him, mom."

In Rory's bedroom, Jess's attention got caught at Rory's last statement. Rory loved him. He focused on the discussion.

"And I think that sex thing might happen soon..." Rory continued.

"Are you sure you are ready? You've been together for what, two months?"

"I know. But I think I'm ready. I even think I've been ready since the beginning. I love him, mom."

A silence followed.

"If you're ready, then I can't stop you" Lorelei finally said.

Jess smiled. In the living room, Rory smiled too.

"Just make sure you'll be safe" Lorelei continued.

"I promise we will. Thank you mom."

"You welcome, sweetie."

They hugged again. Just then, the phone rang. Lorelei got up and went to take the cordless that was on the table in the hallway.

"Hello?...Michel, you can't just deal with it on your own?...Call Sookie, then!...What do you mean?...Oh...Fine...Fine...Fine! Give me five minutes, I'll be there!...Yes Michel...Yes Michel..."

And she hung up, slamming the phone down on the table.

"Sorry sweet, I have to go to the inn. Apparently, there's an emergency, Sookie's not home so I have to go..."

"It's okay mom."

"The sooner I'll be there, the sooner I'll be back. See you later!"

With that, Lorelei grabbed her purse and her keys and ran – litterally – out the door. Rory got up and went back to her bedroom, where she sat back down next to Jess. The latter put his book aside and made her sit in his lap. Rory circled his neck with her arms.

"So, how did it go?" he asked matter-of-factly.

"Not bad. Pretty well, actually."

"So you two made up?"

"Yup."

"Good. You wanna pack a few things? I don't think we'll have plenty of time tomorrow before we leave."

"Yeah. Might be a good idea."

But neither of them made a move to get up.

"Wow" Jess said. "We're motivated."

"What are you talking about? Look, this is me getting up."

But she didn't move. Jess laughed lightly and tightened his grip around her waist, then he kissed her softly. After a while, the kiss deepened and Jess began to move to make them lay down on the bed, him on top of Rory. Once that done, he began to move his right hand up and down her body. They were both enjoying that moment until Jess slipped his hand under Rory's tank top. Rory suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong Ror? You're not ready?"

"No! I mean...Yes, I'm ready, it's just that...we can't do it now. My mom could come back any minute. I don't want her to catch us in the middle of it. I want it to happen when I know we won't be disturbed, okay?"

"Okay" he sighed before giving her a short kiss. "But...promise...promise me it will be soon...I want you so bad, Ror...I love you."

Rory's head shot up. Tears filled her eyes as she began to smile.

"I...I love you too, Jess...and I want you too..."

Jess didn't let her finish, he captured her lips into a passionate kiss that lasted until they both needed air. As they were taking their breath, Jess made their foreheads touch.

"I promise you" Rory managed to say between intakes of breath, "that as soon as we'll be back home, I'll be completely and utterly yours."

Jess gave her a short but passionate kiss.

"You just called New York home" he stated.

Rory thought for a moment.

"Yeah, I guess I did" she whispered. "But it's what it is to me now. The city, the appartment are home. You are home."

Jess rubbed her cheek gently, kissing her softly.

"We should pack" Rory said after they had stopped.

"Yeah."

Half-heartedly, he got up and offered his hand for her to do the same.

"Come on" Jess insisted, seeing she wasn't getting up.

"Fine."

She reached out for his hand and got up, then they both began to take books out of the shelves to shove them into their bags and the boxes they had brought.

"I don't think there's enough place in my shelf" Jess stated after a while.

"We'll just have to let the books in the boxes, or buy another shelf" Rory said after a short moment of reflection.

"Yeah, like there's enough place in the bedroom."

"We can put it somewhere else."

"Whatever."

An they continued like that until they had packed all the books, so they switched to the CDs. They were just beginning with the CDs when Lorelei came back.

"Lucy, I'm home!" Lorelei shouted when she came in the door.

"Bedroom!" Rory shouted back.

"We're going to Luke's, kids! Be ready in half an hour!" Lorelei shouted again from the bottom of the stairs before going up.

Twenty-five minutes later, Rory and Jess were both ready and waiting for Lorelei, who was running late, as usual. She came downstairs ten minutes after the time she had settled.

"Why are we going to Luke's?" Rory asked once her mother was downstairs.

"Because he invited us over for dinner."

"Oh, right. Okay then. Let's go."

Her and Jess stood up from the couch and they all headed out the door and to Luke's. They arrived there five minutes late.

"You're late" Luke couldn't stop himself from saying.

"Am I known as a punctual person?" Lorelei asked.

"No. But a man can still hope. Hi Rory."

"Hi Luke" Rory answered. "How are you doing?"

"Good. And you?"

"Not bad."

"I assume the guy beside you is your boyfriend?"

"Yup. Luke, this is Jess Mariano. Jess, this is Luke Danes, my mother's boyfriend."

Luke froze when Rory said Mariano and so did Jess when she said Danes.

"What's wrong guys?" Rory inquired, seeing any of them was moving.

"Rory, did you just say his last name's Mariano?" Luke asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Who's your father?" Luke asked Jess.

"I think his name's Jimmy Mariano" Jess answered. "My mother told me his name once, I don't remember that well. Why?"

"Is your mother Elizabeth Danes?"

"Ah jeez, you're my uncle Luke?"

"Seems like it. I'm glad to finally meet you Jess."

"Same here."

Luke and Jess shook hands. During this time, Rory and Lorelei had sat down, shocked.

"This world's definitely small, isn't it?" Lorelei asked to no one in particular.

"Yes it is" came Rory's answer.

When Rory and Lorelei har recovered from the chosk, they all sat down at a table Luke had dresses and they ate. Luke tried to get to know a little more his nephew. A few hours later, Lorelei, Rory and Jess got back to the Crap Shack and went to bed.

_**Please review, it shows me you read this story: **_


	9. Broken

**_I know it's been quite a while since the last time I updated…but you know how life is when you're 19…school, work, homework…all this stuff keeps me busy 24/7, so please understand, kay? Thanks! Enjoy next chapter!_**

**9- Broken**

The next morning, Rory and Jess got up early to get breakfast and be able to finish packing what Rory needed. Lorelei got downstairs when they were bringing boxes into Jess's car.

"What are you doing?" Lorelei asked Rory, who was passing by with a box.

"Loading the car with my stuff" Rory answered, looking at her like she had three heads.

"What do you mean, with your stuff?"

Rory stopped in her track.

"Well, I'm bringing the stuff I need to New York."

"What?"

"What? You were expecting me to move back here?"

"Actually, yes! I thought that since we had made up, you would come back!"

"Sorry, but I'm not. Yes, we made up. Here's the key word: we. But there wasn't only you in all this. There was Lane and Dean too. Did they call or show up? Nope! They must have known I was in town, I didn't exactly hide. I'm not coming back into a town that doesn't feel like a home, to people that doesn't even seem to have noticed I was gone."

With that, she went back to what she was doing, with tears in her eyes. Her and Jess left a while later after a quick and cold goodbye to Lorelei and Luke, who had come from the diner in a hurry when Lorelei had called him while Rory and Jess were finishing to load the car. Five minutes after Rory and Jess had left, Lorelei fell down to the ground, not able to hold her tears longer. Luke immediately bented down to pull her into his arms to try to confort her...something that didn't seem to work. So he stayed there for as long as Lorelei cried.

"How did I end up messing things up with my daughter, huh?" Lorelei managed to ask through her tears.

"I don't know, Lor. I honestly don't know."

"She will never forgive me, Luke! Never!"

"Don't say that. You know as well as me that it's not true. Rory never stayed mad at you for very long. You know that."

"Well, she proved the opposite these last two months!"

"Maybe, but she also came back. You had even made up, yesterday. I'm sure she will come back again soon. Or she'll at least give you a call."

Lorelei didn't answer, she just snuggled further into Luke's arms.

"How can you find the right words, huh?" Lorelei asked after a moment.

Luke smiled lightly.

"I don't know" he answered before getting up. "Come on, let's get inside or you'll get cold."

He helped her up and they went inside. At that moment, Jess's car was parked on the side of the road, a few miles away of Stars Hollow. Inside, Jess was conforting...well, trying to confort Rory, who was crying her eyes out.

"How could she dare expect me to go back there? How could she?" Rory said through her tears. "She knew I haven't talked to Lane or Dean, even the rest of the town. She should have known I wouldn't go back."

"Maybe she took for granted that since you had made up, you would go back. It was even pretty clear. She can't expect you to move back if you aren't ready to. You can't live somewhere you don't feel welcomed. Trust me, I know that feeling."

Rory sniffed.

"Why didn't you tell her that?" Rory asked softly, calming down.

Jess thought for a moment.

"I don't know, Ror. You know, maybe it's better that I didn't talk at all 'cause maybe she would have banished me from this town and forbidden me to see you."

Rory smiled lightly through her tears.

"I wouldn't have let her" she said seriously.

Jess just left a light kiss on her forehead before taking back the wheel.

"Come on, we have a long road ahead of us."

Rory nodded and rested her head on Jess's shoulder. Jess pulled the car back on the road and they made their way back to New York. Rory fell asleep not long after they had gone back on the road.


	10. HELP!

Hi there! Sorry, it's not a new chapter…before I post any new chapter, I need something… See, the last few reviews I've gotten were telling me to BETA my fics, so here I am…Is there anyone who would be interested to be my BETA? If so, send a review or an e-mail. I think I really need it.

Thank you!

Hopefully, the next chapter will soon be up, I promise.

RoRyJeSsAdDiCt


	11. Fix you

_**Hi everyone! Here's chapter 10…it took forever to come, but I finally made it to the end of the chapter. Please tell me what you think! Love ya all!**_

**AN: I raised the rating to M, you'll understand why in this chapter.**

**10- Fix you**

Two hours later, Jess pulled up in his parking spot in the building's parking lot and stopped the engine. He looked down at Rory and smiled lightly.

"Ror?" he called, shaking her a little. "Ror, come on, we're there. We're home."

She stirred and opened her eyes.

"Hey there" Jess greeted her.

She smiled.

"Let's get your stuff in the appartment" Jess said, pulling her with him out of the car.

Rory followed him to the trunk, rubbing her eyes. They took a few bags and a box each and went up to go drop everything in the appartment. They repeated the operation until nothing was left in the trunk. When they were done, they crashed down on the couch. After a moment, Rory's stomach growled. Rory laughed and Jess smirked.

"I think I'm hungry" Rory said.

"You want me to make us something?"

"If you don't mind..."

"Of course I don't mind. You can go put your clothes away while I'm cooking. I'll call you when it's ready."

"You sure you don't want some help?"

"Yes I'm sure. Now go."

"Okay then."

She kissed him shortly then she got up and went to the bedroom. Jess stayed there for a moment, sighed then got up and went into the kitchen. Into the bedroom, Rory opened a box full of books and began to place them in Jess's shelf, where there was enough place to, but her heart and mind weren't really into it. After a moment, she stopped and layed down on the bed, curling up into a ball, and began to sob silently. A while later, Jess put two plates on the table.

"Ror! Dinner's ready!" he called, walking to the fridge.

He grabbed a bottle of soda and took it out of the fridge before putting it down on the table. Not hearing anything, he went to the bedroom.

"Rory? Did you hear me?" he asked before entering the room.

He found Rory curled up on the bed, her back facing him. He sat down on the edge of the bed and rubbed her arm. She turned around and moved to find the confort of his arms.

"What's going on Ror? You were fine when you left the living room."

"I know" she choked out. "It hurts, you know. I didn't talk to Lane. I would have liked to talk to her. Her and mom are the two most important people in my life."

"And where am I?' he asked teasingly.

She laughed a little through her tears as she pulled out of his embrace.

"I meant that mom and Lane are two of the three most important persons in my life. You are the third person."

"I'm just third?"

She thought for a second.

"Nah, you're first." Rory smirked.

For an answer, he kissed her passionately.

"Still hungry?" he asked her when they had pulled away.

"Starving." she answered.

"Come on, then. It's ready."

She smiled and they stood up and left the room. Later that night, Rory was standing in front of the mirror of her and Jess's bedroom, brushing her hair while Jess was in the bathroom, brushing his teeth. Liz hadn't come back since Wednesday, so it probably meant she had found herself a new boyfriend. At first, Rory had found that cruel and weird, but she had gotten used to it as time had gone by. Jess came back in the bedroom as Rory was looking out the window, a distant look on her face. Seeing that, he smiled lightly and circled her waist with his arms from behind.

"You okay?" he asked in her ear before he left a kiss behind it.

She snapped back to reality.

"Yeah, sorry" she answered, turning around in his arms. "I was thinking."

"About...?"

"I don't know. Nothing. Everything."

He observed her for a moment.

"You're sure you're okay? You know you can talk to me."

"Yes, I know. And yes, I'm sure I'm okay. I just...I feel a little guilty for what I said to my mother today."

He sighed and thought for a moment.

"You don't have to feel guilty for that. She just thought that since you had made up, you were going to go back to Stars Hollow, to live with her again. You just got her back on the right track. You don't have any guilt to feel here."

"But it's how I said it. It was harsh, wasn't it?"

"It wasn't harsh, it was firm. You just wanted to make sure she would understand, and I'm pretty sure she understood."

She opened her mouth again to speak, but he covered it with one of his hands.

"There is no way you are going to convince me that you are right to feel guilty. It won't work. Is that clear?"

She nodded.

"Good" he said, pulling back his hand.

They stayed silent for a moment, Rory's head resting on Jess's bare chest.

"Thank you Jess" she blurted out.

"For what?" he asked, surprised.

"For being there for me, for not judging me, for always knowing what to say to comfort me."

"Rory, I do all this because I love you. You know that."

"Yes, but I like when you make me remember it."

He smiled.

"Come on" he said after a moment, "let's get in bed, we have school tomorrow."

"Okay."

She reluctantly let go of him and layed down. Jess did the same after he had closed the blinds, leaving the lamp to be the only surce of light. They kissed and after a moment, Rory deepened the kiss, pulling herself closer to Jess. After a while, Jess positionned himself on top of Rory and lowered his lips on Rory's neck.

"Fix me, Jess" she almost pleaded in his ear.

Jess stopped and looked at her quietly for a second.

"You're sure?" he asked softly.

She nodded with a shy smile.

"Ok then. But if you want me to stop, you just have to tell me and I'll stop, alright?"

Again, she nodded.

"Ok."

He looked at her for a second then leaned down to kiss her again. At first, it was soft, but after a moment, it became more passionate, almost...unchaste, full of a sexual tension they both needed to get rid of. After a while, Jess moved to her neck. She let out a disapproving groan, then an approving moan. He began to move one of his hands up and down her body, adjusting the pressure to her breathing. Something she seemed to enjoy. She asked for a kiss, which he gladly gave her. He left again her mouth a while later for her neck, then her collarbone. After that he went to her stomach. He lifted the hem of her tank top and kissed her skin before he made her take off her pajama bottom, which he threw away before he went back to her mouth. She moved her hands to his hair and after a while, she made them roll on the bed so that she would be on top of him. She kissed him passionately for a moment then lowered her lips to his chest. She left a myriad of burning kisses down to his pajama bottom line then stopped and hesitated for a second before she made him take them off. When she was done, she made her way back up but didn't have time to complete her track since Jess had suddenly sat up, impatient. He made her sit so that her legs were around his waist and kissed her as if there were no tomorrow. He stopped and went to her neck again when he sensed she needed to breath. She looked up and pulled her body closer to Jess's, delighted. She suddenly felt Jess's hands under her tank top, so she lifted her arms up so that he could take it off. A second later, she had only her panty on. She was feeling a little embarassed: Jess was the first boy to see her that undressed. Jess sensed her hesitation so he stopped and looked at her, panting a little, still caressing her skin lightly.

"Are you okay? Do you want me to stop?" he asked, concerned.

"I'm just feeling a little embaressed. Nobody saw me that undressed before you."

He kissed her lips lightly.

"I understand" he said. "Do you want me to stop?"

"No. It feels so good. Don't stop. I need this."

"You're sure?"

She nodded quickly, leaning in for a kiss that he gladly gave her. It soon deepened. Rory ran her hands in Jess's hair when he was laying her down on her back. His hands were running everywhere on her body, enjoying the silkiness of her skin. One of his hands stopped at her breasts. He cupped one in that hand and began to caress it. Rory moaned in the kiss. Jess left her lips and lowered his to the breast he was holding. He kissed it, nibbling at her nipple. He repeated the same treatment to the other. Moan after moan was coming from Rory, her body arching upwards, much to Jess's pleasure. Liking the response, he left her breasts and made his way down. He kisssed her stomach then stopped at her panty line. He left again a few kisses before pulling on the panty to take it off. She lifted her waist to help. Throwing away the piece of fabric, he kissed the inside of her thighs towards the center of her feminity. He played a little with her, hitting some spots that made her react. At some point, she took a grip of his hair and pulled him back up. She kissed him furiously, trying to make him take off his boxer. He helped her to get rid of it. After that, he reached in his nightstand for something. She asked him with her eyes what he was doing because he had stopped the kiss. He showed her the condom.

"You're still allowed to make me stop" he said.

But she didn't say anything. He left a light kiss on her forehead then took a few seconds to put the condom on. When he was done, he resumed kissing. They kissed for a while before he stopped again to look at her, asking silently if she was ready. She nodded. He leaned down and they kissed again. While she was caught up in the kiss, he opened the space between her thighs with one knee and thrusted forward. She let out a sob in his mouth and left fingernails prints on his shoulders at the initial entrance. He immediately looked at her, thinking he had hurt her a lot more than he thought.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

A few tears escaped her eyes. He wiped them.

"Rory, are you okay?" he asked again since she hadn't answered. "Please tell me you're okay."

"I'm okay."

He sighed in relief and resumed kissing, moving also forward. After a while, he felt her relaxing as she was beginning to enjoy it more. She also became more adventurous. She caressed his chest and his back, circling his waist with her legs to feel him closer. At first, it was slow and gentle, Jess making sure that Rory was alright, that she was confortable. Soon enough, though, he found himself not able to think straight anymore. He began to move faster, feeling the end coming. Rory let out a long moan/scream. His breathing became erratic and, a few seconds later, he was done too, collapsing on top of her. When his breathing came back to normal, he lifted himself up off Rory and layed down next to her. He got rid of the condom and turned his attention back to Rory, pulling her to him. He kissed the top of her head.

"I love you" he whispered softly in her ear.

She looked up at him, smiling.

"I love you too" she whispered back before kissing him.

And with that, they soon fell asleep in each other's arms.

_**Please review, I need to know how it was, especially when Rory and Jess were having sex...Next chapter should come out soon. See ya!**_


	12. Hear Me

_**There's one thing I don't understand…there are at least 15 people on the alert list to this fic, but I only get something like five reviews every time I update…I want more. I NEED more to update. This time I want a review from everyone on the alert list. No less. And I'm serious. I won't update until I get them**_

**Now, enough with threats, here's chapter 11. **

**11- Hear Me**

No need to say that school was out of the picture the next day. They were in their own little world, too busy to think about anything else but themselves. Sometime during the night, Jess had imprisoned Rory tightly in his arms, so that's how she woke up in the morning. Feeling her stir against him, he tightened his grip around her, moving a hand to her cheek to make her face turn so that he could kiss her other cheek. She smiled and snuggled closer to him.

"Hey there," he whispered in her ear.

She smiled again and turned around in his arms

"Hi," she whispered back before leaving a kiss in the crook of his neck.

He closed his eyes for a second then looked at her. He simply looked at her, taking in how beautiful she was like that. Seeing he wasn't saying anything, she blushed slightly.

"Why are you looking at me like this?" she asked softly.

"Because you're beautiful," he answered sincerely.

She blushed a little more and looked away.

"No I'm not," she mumbled.

"Yes you are. I've never seen a girl as beautiful as you are."

She swallowed, thinking.

"Would you be with me even if I wasn't looking like this?"

"Of course I would. I don't love you only for what you look like. I love you for everything you are. A guy who loves a girl only because she's hot is just a jackass."

She smiled.

"So I'm hot?" she asked, teasing him.

He swallowed hard.

"Well..." he trailed off, "you have your... hum...I mean...you are, for me..."

She laughed and circled his neck with her arms

"Relax," she told him, "I was teasing you."

"Huh."

She chuckled and kissed him.

"Hey," he asked after a moment of silence once they had parted, "Are you okay after last night? I know the first time always hurts, and I saw you with tears in your eyes..."

"I'm okay, Jess," she cut him. "And you know, I'm glad you reacted the way you did. Others could have cared less of the first time; all they want is to deflower as many girls as they can before they graduate high school."

"Yeah..."

He looked distant for a moment and Rory noticed.

"What?" she asked softly. "Were you...?"

"Not me, no, but the guys I was hanging out with...Kevin, Sean...they were that kind of guy. And sometimes they almost forced me to do like them."

She smiled softly, caressing his cheek.

"Why did you stay with them?" she asked.

"Rory," he said, getting up and putting on his boxers, "I've already explained it to you. Until you showed up, they were the only people with whom I was feeling like I was something more than shit."

Rory sat up.

"Then why were you feeling like shit? Because I know you're not. You're a great guy under that mask you wear in public. You take it off only with me. Why are you acting like this?"

"Don't try to psychoanalyze me, Rory. I don't need this, especially not from you."

"I'm not trying to psychoanalyze you. I'm just trying to understand you."

"Fine! You want to know why I'm acting like this? Here. All my life I've learned to not trust anyone around me. My father left the day I was born, scared of being a father. After that, my mother began her drinking-partying-dating trip, so I had to learn to take care of myself because I couldn't rely on anyone else. Once I began to attend school, it was like nothing was enough for my mother. I was just a pain in the ass. She was always belittling me no matter how hard I was trying to satisfy her. She was never satisfied. She has never been proud of me. So I built a wall no one could step through. I had no one to be the proud of, no one to come back to every night to talk about my day at school. I've never had anything of that in 18 years. That mask I wear, I take it off only with you because you're the only one I trust. You don't know about my past and I like it better that way. That way I can start new, and I know you're worth it. If you had been anyone else, I would never have said what I just told you about me."

At that moment, they both realized how much they needed each other. Jess needed Rory in a way that he was thinking she was the only one that could get him out of that hole he was in. She was the light at the end of the tunnel, the lighthouse to his lost boat. As for Rory, she didn't know just yet why she needed Jess so badly, but she knew she needed him. Sure, he was giving her every thing she needed, but there was something else she couldn't quite identify yet, and in a way, it was scaring her. Despite that, she was conscious that Jess's trust in her was a gift. Sure, she trusted his, but did she trust him enough to tell him what was really bugging her? She dropped her head down in realization.

"Sorry," she apologized, "I should have realized that earlier."

He remained silent, but she took it as if he had accepted her apology. Which he really did, he was just taking the opportunity to think...think about what was bothering her. Yup, he had noticed she was hiding something from him; he just didn't want to push her to tell him. He was smarter than that. She would tell him when she was ready. How had he noticed? Her constant need for attention, to be reassured. He just didn't know where it was all coming from. A door shutting close got him out of his thoughts. Turning his head around, he saw that Rory had left the room and had closed the door behind her. He understood she needed some time alone. For what, he couldn't tell, but he left her alone nevertheless.

In the living room, Rory was sitting on the couch with the cordless phone in her hands, hesitating on whether or not she should call her mother. She finally decided to do it and dialled her mother's cell phone number.

"_Hello? Lorelei Gilmore speaking_" Lorelei answered absently.

"Mom?" Rory said weakly.

"_Rory? What do you want?_"

There was a bit of coldness in her voice.

"Look mom, I don't want to fight again. First I want to apologize for yesterday. I didn't mean to get it out that way. I just thought you would have understood I wouldn't want to go back."

"_Well...why do you not want to come back?_"

"You know where it leads, mom. I don't feel at home in Stars Hollow. I feel trapped in a hole that I can't get out of. You can't force me to live like that."

Lorelei sighed, understanding.

"_Yeah, you're right._

"Thanks."

Silence.

"_Did you want to talk about something else?_" Lorelei asked.

"Well...yes."

"_What is it?_"

"Um...see, Jess and I...had sex...last night.."

Short silence on Lorelei's end of the line.

"Mom?"

"_I'm still here. Sorry...Look, I won't lecture you or anything, just...don't come back to me with a baby in a few months, okay?_"

"I won't mom. We were safe, I promise."

"_Okay then. Is there something else?_"

"Um...maybe..."

Rory fell silent.

"_Maybe...?_" Lorelei trailed off after a moment.

"Well...we fought this morning."

"_Do I want to know what it was about?_"

"It wasn't about sex. It was about Jess's behaviour with me versus his behaviour with the others. It just made me realize I hadn't been totally honest with him at the beginning and now that I know I love him, it's a hard weight to carry. You know what I'm talking about, right?"

"_Yes, I know. Maybe you should get this out in the open with him now since you two seem to be in the honesty mood this morning._"

"I know I should. It's just that...I'm scared he'll reject me after that."

"_Why would he reject you? If he loves you enough, he won't reject you. Maybe it will just make him understand some things. I observed him this week-end and I can tell for a fact that he loves you. A lot._"

"I love him too. I'm just scared to ruin everything with what's on my mind."

"_I'm sure you won't ruin anything. If so, he's just an idiot. But I'm sure he will ask to help once you will have told him. Maybe it will even bring you two even closer. Go tell him and be honest with him. You'll thank me for it later._"

"Okay. Thanks mom."

"_You welcome kid. Call me later to tell me how it went?_"

"I sure will."

"_Great. I love you. Bye._"

"Me too. Bye."

Rory hung up and put the phone down on the coffee table, sighing. After a moment, she gathered her courage to get up and go back in the bedroom. She knocked softly before opening the door and walked in. Jess was standing by the window, looking through it absently. She neared him shyly and snaked her arms around his waist hesitantly, waiting for a reaction. He didn't brush her off. Good sign. He even entwined his fingers with hers. She kissed the back of his shoulders, wondering where to start.

"Jess" she begun.

He lightly turned his head in response.

"You know that conversation we had earlier?"

He nodded.

"You were being honest with me, right?"

He nodded again.

"Well, it's my turn to be honest with you."

He turned around, looking at her curiously.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I have a few things to tell you and it probably won't please you. And please, after I tell you, if you're going to stay with me by pity, don't. I'd rather go away and live my life than feel pitied. I love you too much to inspire only pity to you."

"Rory, I'll always love you no matter what you tell me. What's going on?"

She took a deep breath.

"You know...um...hell, how do you say that?"

"Just get straight to the point" he suggested.

"Okay...well...I've attempted to commit suicide. Once."

He let go of her to let the information get to his brain.

"It was with sleeping pills" she continued even if she wasn't sure he was still listening. "My mother found me passed out on the floor of her bathroom and called the ambulance. The doctors succeeded in bringing me back to life."

"What made you do that?" Jess asked after a moment of silence.

"I've never been feeling well in my skin. I'm sure you noticed. Plus my apparent perfect life didn't help."

"Perfect life?"

"Yeah. My mother was my best friend, everyone in town loved me. My other best friend's mother thought I was the only non-Korean reliable enough to be friends with her daughter, I was the perfect granddaughter: performing in school, nice to everyone. I also had the apparent perfect boyfriend: when he was over at my mother's house, he was nice to her, always agreed with her, changed the bottle of water. He was doing everything to make her like him, but outside, he was total jerk, always belittling me in front of his friends and mine. When we were making out, he had to have the control. Oh, talking about control...he always had to know where I was and what I was doing, every minute of each day. I always had to clear my schedule for him, no matter how important my plans were. One day I had had enough and suicide was all I could come up with as a solution at that moment. In my town, I was feeling trapped. I couldn't think straight, couldn't breathe. Nobody noticed because they were all too busy with their own lives to notice how I was feeling. My mother was busy with Luke, Lane was busy with Dave...my grandparents were too busy with their pride of me and my performance at school...as well as the whole town...and Dean, well...he was too busy belittling me and being a jerk to me..."

A few tears escaped her eyes as she was looking down. To her relief, Jess pulled her against him and stroked her hair.

"It's over now. Everything's over. I'm here for you, okay?"

She nodded against him.

"Good. Let's lie down. I think you need it"

He led her to the bed and helped her down before joining her. As he was trying to make Rory calm down, Jess was thinking: "_How could one person in that whole town not notice another one's distress? How could her mother not have seen her daughter wasn't her normal self?_"

Rory, despite the closeness she had with her mother, had always felt alone. Even Lane couldn't fill the emptiness she felt inside. It was all so painful. She had thought, in the beginning of their relationship with him, that Dean would ease the pain at least a little, but as time went by, the more she knew him, the more her pain was increasing. Some quality time spent with her mother here and there helped a little, but still...So often she had wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, scream for her pain, wishing it would go away...but she had never been able to do it. A lump formed in her throat every time she was opening her mouth and stopped her. So instead she cried. Many nights were spent crying in the darkness of her room without anyone to hold her. Now she had Jess, but sometimes she couldn't help but think that it was too good to be true, that someday he would get tired and leave, leaving her alone once again. Yes, she loved him and yes, she trusted him. But somehow, she feared that someday it would all backfire. And if it did, she would be devastated. And devastated was just an understatement. She had experienced a feeling near devastation quite recently and it had led her to attempt suicide. She didn't want to live through that ever again. It would be too hard.

That thought made her cry even harder. She gripped Jess and pulled him as close as she could, needing to feel him close, needing his comfort.

Jess, on his side, was at a loss for words. A minute ago, he thought that her sobbing were calming down, but now she was holding onto him for dear life, crying even harder. He didn't know what was going on in her head and seeing her like that scared him. He held her against him as tightly as he could, all the way wondering what was the matter. The distress she was showing that morning brought tears to his eyes. Jess Mariano had never been one for tears in his life, but the current situation was different. REALLY different.

Ever since he had reached adolescence, Jess Mariano had been a frustrated kid. It's not until he was 12 that he actually understood everything that had happened around him. To him, the concept of having a father was foreign. His mother had always told him that his father didn't know anything about him until a fight he and Liz had had when he was 14. She had told him then that Jimmy wasn't around because he was scared and that he was right to be scared of a kid like him. That's when reality really sunk in. His father was a deadbeat and his mother was an alcoholic and always lurking around with a different man every week. His mother's failure at motherhood had hit him hard. At first, he had wanted to try to get her attention. How did he try? Stealing, vandalizing, bringing a different girl home every now and then. He even went to jail two or three times, but she never came to retrieve him. That's when he realized that if he couldn't trust his mother on anything, he couldn't trust anyone either. That's when a journey into loneliness began. Sure, there were Kevin, Sean and the others, but...they weren't his definition of the redemption he was looking for. When he turned 17, he had almost cried. Almost. But Jess Mariano had never cried and never would. So instead he had screamed, alone in an abandoned factory. He had screamed and punched everything he could find. He started fights at school, apparently for no reason in the other's opinion, but it was to calm his frustration. But it was never calming down.

Nope, Jess Mariano had never been one for tears, until that very morning. Not only was he crying because of Rory's distress, but he was also crying his frustration, letting all out for the first time. So he too held onto Rory as if his life was depending on it. And it was almost that. His life had slowly been falling into pieces until that night she had made her appearance in his life. She had succeeded into slowly put back the pieces together, to bring fresh air, to give his life a new meaning. Almost giving it a new life in itself. He owed her so much so he would do anything in his power to make it up to her, and if it was to begin with trying to comfort her at that very moment, then so be it.

_Wow...I think I've never written such a good chapter in everything I've written so far. I'm quite proud of this one. Please tell me what you think!_

_Oh, by the way...I need suggestions for the next chapters. I'm having a writer's block right now and I REALLY need ideas..._

_**Another thing, I'd like to tell you that I might not update for about a month and half 'cause I'm beginning my program's final project at school (I'm studying arts), and I have a month to do it in it's entirety, so I'll be VERY busy. Thank you for understanding!**_


	13. Thank you

_**I know, it's been forever since the last update. I'm really very, very,**__** very, very, very, very sorry! College and work are keeping me always busy. I don't have time to write.**_

_**This is chapter 12. I've written it whenever I've have a few minutes to myself. I know it's probably not the best chapter (just compare to the last one...), but that's all I could come up with. Thank you for reading and reviewing though, it shows there are actually people reading this.**_

**12- Thank you**

Somewhere along the way, they had fallen back asleep. The flow of emotions that had washed over them had exhausted them. A few hours later, in the middle of the afternoon, Rory slowly stirred and opened her eyes. She blinked a few times to get the sleep out of her eyes then looked at the form before her. Jess was still sound asleep, his arms stil holding her tight against him. A lock of hair had fallen in his right eye, so she replaced it, touching lightly his forehead with the tip of her fingers. He stirred lightly, but didn't wake up. She smiled lightly, left a kiss on his lips then tried to release herself from his grip before getting up and dressed. Once that was done, she quietly left the bedroom, closing the door silently behind her. She went into the living room, grabbed the phone from the coffee table and took a seat near the window. Dialing her mother's cell number, she got herself comfortable.

"_Guten tag_" Lorelei answered.

Rory laughed lightly.

"Hi, mom."

"_Hey honey. How's my german?_"

"Not bad."

"_Thanks!_"

"No problem."

"_So...have any reason for calling me? Not that I mind. It's quite the opposite, Michel was becoming annoying._"

"When is he NOT annoying? Anyway...I do have a reason to call."

"_Shoot._"

"Well, you did ask me to call you back to let you know how everything went this morning."

"_Um...yeah, I did. But I wasn't expecting it to be so soon._"

"Yeah...let's just say that I didn't want to be bothered any more than I already was with all this."

"_Understandable. So...how did it go? How did Jess take it?_"

"Better than I expected, actually."

On her side of the line, Lorelei smiled. She knew Rory had nothing to worry about. Sure, she barely knew the guy, but she had seen the way he was acting around her daughter.

"_That's good, isn't it?_" Lorelei asked.

"Yes. Very good. I feel so much better now."

"_I can imagine, honey. I don't know him, but I've seen the way he's acting around you. I think you've found yourself a great guy._"

Rory teared up.

"You think?" she asked in a small voice.

"_Yup._"

A few happy tears escaped Rory's eyes.

"Thank you, mom. It means so much to me for you to approve of Jess. I love him so much."

"_No problem hun. Just promise me one thing._"

"What?"

"_Come and visit soon with him, okay? I want to get to know him._"

"Okay. I'll do my best."

"_Great. Now, honey, not that I don't enjoy talking to you, but I have to get back to work."_

"Okay."

"_Could you just give me a phone number I can reach you at so I can call you whenever I want?_"

"Sure. Just don't call in the middle of the night or Jess is gonna kill you."

"_I'll try._"

Rory laughed then gave her mother the appartment's phone number before hanging up. She put down the phone then looked outside. The sun was shining in the sky. Everything was going back to normal in her life and nothing could reflect her mindstate better than the sun. The clouds of doubt and insecurity were clearing away to leave place, finally, to pure happiness. She was back on good terms with her mother and she had a wonderful boyfriend that was taking care of her. She couldn't be any happier. She smiled brightly.

"What's making you smile like this?" an approaching voice said.

She turned her head, surprised, and saw Jess, clad in his boxer and his hair a mess. Her smile grew even brighter. She got up and ran in his arms, then kissed him. After a moment, Rory broke the kiss and smiled again.

"What's making you smile like this?" Jess repeated, touching her cheek of his hand.

"I don't know. I'm just...happy." she simply answered, looking at him.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah" she nodded.

For the first time since she knew him, Jess's smile reflected hers. That made her more happy than anything: she had succeeded in making Jess smile a bright, genuine smile. He had finally let his guard down and let happiness reach his heart.

Jess felt himself brake into a large smile, something he'd never done before. He'd never been this happy before. He was happy that Rory was happy, but the fact that he was part of the reason she was this happy made him even more happy. (A/N: Sorry for the amount of "happy" in that sentence…) She had succeeded in breaking the wall he had built around his heart to let happiness reach it and he was glad she did. He had never felt this way before and he didn't want to lose that feeling. She had somehow changed him. She was the redemption he had been looking for. He hugged her tightly, breathing in her scent.

"Thank you" he said after a moment.

"For what?" she inquired, still in his embrace.

"For making me realize there aren't only horrible things in this world" he answered, making her face him.

Rory broke into a smile and teared up again. Jess brushed away her tears with his thumbs then kissed her passionately. After a moment, he left her lips for her neck.

"I love you Rory" he said in between kisses, "I love you so much."

"I love you too" she managed to get out through all the emotions that were invading her.

After a moment, Jess's lips found hers again and they slowly stopped. Rory reopened her eyes and smiled again, hugging him once more. Jess hugged her back, as happy as he could be…and it's this moment his mother chose to come back. Jess swore silently and Rory went back to their bedroom after giving him a quick peck on the lips. Jess stayed behind to see what he would be blamed for this time. Liz turned around and stumbled a little, laughing at nothing. Drunk again, Jess thought. He shouldn't be surprised.

"Hey, Jessie" Liz slurred. "Shouldn't you be at school?" A beat. "Why do I even bother to ask, huh? You're just good for nothing, you little bastard. It's no wonder your father ran out on you the day you were born."

Jess hasn't been hurt by his so called mother in a long time. Today was nothing different.

"Well, if I'm just a little bastard, good for nothing, why did you bother try to raise me, huh?" he answered. "If I were all that you've treated me to be before, why didn't you abandon me? If I'm such a burden, why didn't you give me up to someone else?"

Liz didn't say anything.

"I think I know why. You wanted to convince yourself that you hadn't failed, that you weren't nothing without my father here. You don't even know how I'm doing in school. And for the record, I'm one of the best of my class. So don't come to me to tell me I'm just good for nothing, because I don't want to end up like you. And I WON'T end up like you. You just want to see me fail like you did. But you won't. I will succeed, and nothing will stop me from doing so."

"Is that a threat?"

"No, it's a promise."

With that, Jess marched back to his bedroom and closed the door behind him. Still at the door, Liz slid down to the floor, tears forming in her eyes. She knew he was right. She had failed at her mother task…not just failed, fucked up. Big time. Seventeen years of her life just caught up with her and slapped her square in the face, back and forth.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom, Jess had just closed the door. Rory got up from the bed and went to reach for him, but he escaped her. Understanding his need to be alone for a moment; she sat back down, waiting for him to speak. He paced in front of her nervously, running a hand through his hair constantly. After a while, he sat down beside her, resting his head in his hands.

"What's wrong?" Rory asked softly.

"Would you believe it if I told you I just told my mother everything I was thinking? She was there, insulting me again. Sure, her words hadn't hurt me in a long time. Today was nothing different, but it's like I had had enough."

A long silence followed.

"Wow" was all Rory could come up with after a while. "What did she say?"

"Nothing. I didn't really let her have time to answer; I came straight here after I said everything."

"Oh…So what does this mean?"

"I don't know, actually."

"Okay."

"Who did you call this morning?" he asked after a moment.

"My mom."

"Oh. What did you tell her?"

"Well, she wanted me to call her back when I would have talked to you about…you know…my past. She wanted to know how you took it, some stuff like that."

"Really? What did you say?"

"Well, when she asked how you took it, I said you had taken it better than I expected."

"And how did you expect me to react?"

"I don't know. I've been so used to rejection that I was afraid I'd be rejected again. Dean rejected me when he heard; the town began to look at me like I was straight out of a mental institution…"

"Why would I have rejected you? I'm here to support you, not push you away when you have problems. You know that. You know I love you."

"Believe me, I know, Jess. I just…I don't know. In the moment, I just jumped to conclusions, conclusions I knew."

He enveloped her in a tight hug for a while, then kissed the top of her head and let go. They sat there for a moment in silence, letting everything sink in. After a while, Jess laid back down on the bed, and Rory followed him, snuggling up to him. Finally, after a while, they fell back asleep.

Rory woke up a few hours later to the ringing of the phone. Looking at Jess, she saw he was still sleeping soundly, so she got up slowly so she wouldn't wake him up and left the bedroom to find the phone. She found it on the coffee table in the living room. Checking the time, she answered.

"Hello?" she said sleepily.

"_Hey hun_" Lorelai's nervous voice said.

"Hey mom, what's up?" Rory said, sitting down on the couch.

"_Nothing much…the inn is the inn…Sookie is still Sookie. She almost stabbed herself today, but you know it's something that happens often when it comes to Sookie._"

"Yeah. It's a wonder she's still alive."

Lorelai laughed nervously.

"Come on mom, what's up? You sound nervous."

Silence.

"Mom?"

"_Yeah hun, still here. It's just…I don't know how you're going to take this._"

"What? Did something happen?"

"_Not really…it's just…you remember when you told me you would have liked for Lane and Dean to show up so you could talk to them?_"

"Yes…"

"_Well…I saw Lane today, at Luke's. We talked a little and she said she had wanted to come and see you, but she wasn't sure how you would react, so she chickened out. I told her that I'm back on good terms with you and that I can contact you whenever I want, so…She asked me if I could tell you that she wants to talk to you. So, here I am. Message delivered._"

A long pause followed.

"_Hun?_"

"Yeah, I'm here. Just…wow. Okay. Well…if you see her tomorrow, tell her I'll call her in the next few days, okay?"

"_Sure. And Rory?_"

"Hmm?"

"_Don't be too harsh with her, okay?_"

"I'll try. I just have a lot to talk about with her, and it's far from being girl stuff, if you know what I mean."

"_I know. I'm gonna let you go back to sleep, you sounded like I had woken you up when you answered._"

"Yeah. The day's been emotionally exhausting."

"_I understand._"

"Thanks. Bye mom."

"_Bye hun, love you._"

"Love you too."

With that, they hung up. Rory put the phone back on the coffee table and sat back on the couch, thinking. So Lane wanted to talk to her. Well…she didn't know what to expect, actually. She'd just have to see how it would turn out. With that thought in mind, she went back to the bedroom.

_**So that's it for now. I hope you liked it. Please review! Oh, by the way, I lost my beta's email…so if you remember you're my beta and you're reading this, pm me! If not, well, if anyone's interested in being my beta, just let me know. Thanks!**_

_**PS: The next chapter shouldn't take as long as this one to come out. School's out for about a month, so I'll have more time to myself.**_


	14. Given Up

_**Yup, sooner than expected, huh? Well I got inspired. How would you feel if you felt betrayed by your own best friend? Well I know the feeling…This chapter contains angsty. Rory's beginning to come to terms with her past. It begins with Lane. The end might make you sad, but just wait and see ;)**_

_**Here it is, chapter 13. Enjoy!**_

**13- Given Up**

It took Rory a few days to finally get up the courage to call Lane. She had tried a few times, pressed the first few digits of her phone number, but chickened out every single time. But today was slightly different. She had finally got her mind to wrap around the fact that she had some issues to discuss with Lane. So there she was, sitting on the bed in her and Jess's bedroom, Jess at her side to show his support. She dialled Lane's number and let it ring.

"_Hello, Kim's Antiques. Everything is 40 off._"

"Hello Mrs. Kim. This is Rory. May I please speak with Lane?"

"_Oh, hello Rory. Lane is doing her homework right now. Can't you call her back later?_"

"Actually, no, Mrs. Kim. I'm sorry. But this is very important."

"_Are you pregnant?_"

"Hum…no. I promise."

"_You have 15 minutes._"

"Thank you Mrs. Kim."

She heard Mrs. Kim go up the stairs of her house and knock on a door, her and Lane exchanging a few words, then some steps fading away.

"_Hi Rory._"

"Hi Lane."

There was a moment of awkward silence, then Rory took a deep breath before speaking again.

"You wanted me to call you?"

"_Yes. I know we still have issues that aren't resolved between us._"

"Yes, indeed. I just don't know where to start."

"_Well, why don't you start with the fact that you never told me you attempted to commit suicide? I don't understand what could have pushed you to do that._"

Rory laughed humourlessly.

"See, that's the thing, Lane. You've NEVER understood. You've never seen I wasn't happy with Dean, or the way my life was going. I just wasn't happy."

"_Why didn't you tell me, then?!_"

"I thought best friends sometimes didn't need words to know the other doesn't feel well. But no, you couldn't possibly have seen anything; you were too blinded by Dave. Dave this, Dave that, Dave here, Dave there…Everything was always about you, Lane. When I realized that, I gave up. My two supposedly best friends in the world couldn't see that something was wrong with me. I was tired to be the perfect one. Tired to let you live your life through mine, tired to be the perfect granddaughter, to be the perfect daughter who's never done any bad to anything, tired to be the fucking town princess! Nobody saw how alone I was feeling. Dean was too busy to show me off and belittle me to notice anything. So one day, I snapped. There were some sleeping pills in my mom's bathroom. They were my key to freedom. But no, my mom found me, took me to the hospital, and they revived me. A few days later, once I had gotten out of there, Dean assaulted me with questions. I told him what I did. He slapped me, then dumped me. My mom had gotten back to her life without me in it. So I snapped again. Since nobody seemed to be interested in what was going on with me, I packed my bags and left. Nobody would miss me. I ended up here, in New York. And I found Jess."

There is a long silence at the other end of the line.

"_God, Rory…I feel so bad about all this. Me, of all people, should have seen that there was something wrong…I don't understand what happened…_"

"I've long given up trying to understand. I was sick of feeling that way. It seemed like nobody had the courage to take me in their arms to take this all away. I was suffocating in pain, screaming silently for someone to tell me what the fuck was wrong with me. Jess here didn't tell me what was wrong, but he did manage to make me feel better in my skin."

"_Well, I'm glad someone did_" Lane said through tears. "_I'm glad you found someone who completes you so well. Tell Jess he's a lucky guy. I gotta go, mama Kim's at the door._"

With that, the line went dead. Rory knew it wasn't because Mrs. Kim was at the door. They had only talked for about 10 minutes. But she knew Lane needed time to digest everything she had just told her. Deep inside, she had the feeling she had lost her best friend…but she was somehow relieved, because the damage it all caused was too deep. She didn't know if she would ever be able to forgive Lane. That thought brought tears to her eyes. She put the phone down on the nightstand and snuggled up into Jess. He hugged her tightly, whispering soothing nothings in her hair.

_**I know it's short, but I thought it would be a good place to end. Please let me know what you think! And a few suggestions would be welcome too…**_


	15. Beautiful Lie

**I'm so, so, so sorry! ****Really, I am! I promised you updates over the summer and here we are…in December. I promise I will try very hard to update sooner this time. Enjoy and tell me what you think!**

**14-**** Beautiful Lie**

A few days passed, Rory mourning over the loss of her best friend…but after a day or two, she had had enough of crying and brooding, so she jumped head first into her school work, her job, and her relationship with Jess. Everything was going quite well…as well as they could go with an alcoholic step-mother that decides to pop back up at the apartment anytime she wants. But beside that "small" detail, everything was fine. She was talking with her mom on the phone a few times a week so as to keep each other updated of everything going on in their separate lives. It was nothing more than that, but they were happy with the way things were.

Everything was going well at school…well, as well as they could go with Jess's so called friends always trying to hit on her. Luckily, Jess was never that far from her, so they never got to even land a hand on her. They wouldn't dare with Jess around.

Yup, everything was going well. Until one day in December.

Rory was walking to her last class of the day alone. Jess had caught a cold and he had stayed home since he wasn't feeling well that morning. The class went by smoothly. When the bell rang, she gathered her things and went to her locker before heading out of the school. She heard someone whistle behind her. She ignored it at first, thinking it was directed to another girl. But when the person whistled again, she stopped walking and looked around: Kevin, Jess's former friend, was standing by a tree, a curious look in the eyes. When he saw she had noticed him, he walked towards her not giving her enough time to make a move.

"Hey Rory" Kevin said.

"Hey Kevin" Rory coldly replied.

"Is it me or the temperature just lowered even more?" he asked with a chuckle.

"What do you want, Kevin? I'd love to stay and chat with you, but Jess is sick at home, so I have to go."

"Oh, Jessie's sick. That's too bad. You want me to walk you home? It's getting dark already. Wouldn't want ya to get caught by weird strangers."

"No thanks, Kevin. I've gone back home alone some times, so I think I can manage. Bye."

She turned around to leave, but Kevin's grip on her arm told her otherwise.

"Let me go, Kevin" she said, looking down at his hand on her arm.

"Come on Rory, let me walk you home. I know a shortcut that will make you get home faster."

Rory thought for a moment.

"Really?" she asked, perplexed.

"Yeah, come on. I'll show you. This is weird, I thought Jess would have shown it to you by now. He knows about that shortcut."

Rory thought a bit more about that, still doubting.

"Alright" she said, pulling out her newly bought cell phone. "Just let me call Jess. He made me promise to call him before leaving school."

Kevin smiled.

"Alright" he said.

He smiled darkly when she turned away.

She dialled the home phone number and let it ring. And ring. And ring. Then the machine picked up. She groaned, but left a message nonetheless, she knew Jess needed his rest.

"Hey Jess, it's me. I'm calling you, as promised. I'm about to leave school now. I came across Kevin, unfortunately, but he told me about some kind of shortcut he knows back to our place. Since it's getting dark already, I could use a shorter way back home. Hang in there baby, I'll be back soon. I love you."

With that, she hung up and went back to Kevin.

"Alright, let's go" she told Kevin. "We need to get going."

"Yes ma'am" Kevin replied.

With that, they headed out of the school lawn and Rory followed Kevin from a couple steps behind him when he turned right, perplexed at how there could possibly be a shortcut there when she was usually turning left to go back home…

**Me again! Please leave a review! I have 2 ideas about what I want to happen, I just don't know which one to choose. If you have anything that could help me, let me know in your review!**


	16. Devil in a Midnight Mass

**You guys are lucky! Thanks to Kassandra27, I got the idea for this chapter. ****It probably wasn't intentional :P, but here it is. I hope you will like it! Thanks for the reviews, by the way. I'm surprised you all like this fic so much. It definitely gives me a reason to continue and try to keep it this good.**

Italics are thoughts.

Disclaimer: I know, I forgot to put it in all the other chapters, I'll try not to forget it this time…don't own anything related to the show beside all 7 seasons' DVDs and this laptop…

**15- Devil in a Midnight Mass**

A while later, Jess woke up to a silent apartment. He looked around the bedroom: no Rory in sight.

"Rory?" he inquired loudly so that someone could hear him through the door.

He heard approaching steps. Thinking it was her, he didn't turn around when the door opened. He just got up to pull on his pants.

"There you are" he said. "You usually come and wake me up and when you get back from school."

"What are you-u talkin' about?" his mom's voice said…well, slurred.

He turned around quickly, frowning.

"Mom? What are you doing here? Where's Rory?"

"This is... my apartment. I-I can c-come and g-go as I wish."

"Where's Rory?" he snapped.

"How should I know? She's your girlfriend!" she snapped back.

"She's usually home, by this time" Jess thought out loud. _I hope nothing happened._

As if on cue, the phone rang.

*********************

Meanwhile, somewhere in the city, Kevin and Rory were still walking. Kevin stopped in front of an old factory.

"Kevin, what are you doing?" Rory asked. "You said there was a shortcut, and now I'm 1 hour late. What's going on? What are we doing here?"

"We are here, because one of the guys told me to stop by when I could. So here we are."

"But why now? I need to go home! Jess is sick!"

"Hey, relax, okay? We'll just be a minute."

_Yeah, right._ Rory thought

Kevin made a move to go forward.

"Come on, I'll show you around."

Despite her gut telling her that this couldn't be good, she went in anyway, telling herself that sometimes her gut was wrong. Which was true. She's had bad feelings in her gut before and everything went fine. Little did she expect to find Dean in there. She stopped in her track.

"Dean? What the hell are you doing here? How do you know these guys?"

Dean smiled…rather darkly.

"Hello Rory, fancy meeting you here. How have you been?"

"Stop it. What the hell are you doing here?"

"Well I seem to remember that you left without even breaking up with me. So technically, we are still together."

Oblivious to Kevin, his friends and Dean, she took out her cell phone and dialled the apartment's number.

*********************

Jess picked the phone up to answer.

"Hello?" he said in the receiver.

No answer.

"Hello? Anyone there?" he said again.

Still nothing. Then he heard a voice.

"Are you really that stupid Dean?"

_Rory_, Jess deduced. He continued to listen.

"Do you really think that I would have left Stars Hollow if I were really in love with you? If I had been, I would have run to you instead of running to New York to find comfort."

"Oh, so you think that by just leaving like this, it means that it's over. That I can just forgive and forget."

"No, I didn't think you would forgive and forget. I thought that you would simply forget about me. Not that you ever really took care of me anyway. When we were around your friends, you were just showing me off on your good days, which was pretty rare, but always belittling be the remaining of the time. That was quite often. A girl doesn't deserve to be treated like this, Dean. I needed someone that could understand me, that could make me forget about everything I did and all that. But you just made things worse. Why are you suddenly caring huh? I've been gone for months now! You just noticed I wasn't there anymore?"

Jess smiled at this. She knew how to stand up for herself. He still continued to listen, fearing that this couldn't lead to a happy ending. On the other end of the line, he could hear a faint humourless laugh. Nope, this couldn't be good at all.

"You see, these guys, Rory, are my friends. Before going to Stars Hollow, I was living here, in New York."

Jess literally paled at this. _No, it can't be…please tell me this is a nightmare…_

*********************

In the old factory, Rory paled as well. _…What??? Does Jess know him…? Why didn't he tell me? Well, he couldn't have known that the Dean in Stars Hollow was the same as the one he might have hung out with, if he does know him…_

"These guys…were your…friends?" she stuttered. "Wha…how come you were so nice to me in the beginning?"

Dean, Kevin and the others started to laugh.

"You know Rory" Kevin said, "Dean here was the Casanova in this group. But the thing is…he isn't the typical Casanova, if you know what I mean."

*********************

In the apartment, Jess hung up the phone. He pulled on a thick sweater so as to not become sicker, and then put on his leather jacket, grabbed his cell phone and keys, put on his sneakers and flew down the hall and the stairs. He didn't have to ask where they were, he knew where to go. And he had to get there. Fast.

*********************

Rory was at a loss as to what to say. She sat down on an old wooden box nearby, putting her head in her hands.

"You…you told me that you were coming from Chicago" she said, lifting up her head to look at Dean.

"Well, technically, I didn't lie" Dean replied.

"What do you mean?"

"I was born in Chicago, but we moved to New York in my last year of middle school."

She just looked at him, her face emotionless. She couldn't believe this.

_This is all a nightmare. I'm going to wake up soon and realize it was all just a nightmare._

She pinched herself.

_Oww…okay, so this is not a nightmare. Alright…relax, Rory. Think, think__, and most of all, DON'T. PANIC. Not panicking. Not panicking. Not panicking…okay, panicking now. Where's Jess? Why is this happening to me? Why? Why? Why? Everything was great until now! What did I do?_

She heard footsteps around her, so she looked up to see what was going on. Kevin and his gang were leaving, not noticing that she was left alone with Dean.

"Great, now what? Where are they going?" she thought out loud.

"I asked them to leave." Dean stated.

She looked around, startled.

"Why?"

"Because…I wanted some alone time with you. You know my girlfriend."

She took a deep breath, trying to control her anger.

"Put this in that thick head of yours, Dean. I. AM. NOT. YOUR. GIRLFRIEND. ANYMORE."

"Sure you are, you never told me we were broken up."

"How many times will I have to tell you? It's been…Oh, you know what? Alright…here. I am breaking up with you, Dean. Happy?"

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"Why?"

"You can't break up with me."

"…What? What are you talking about? Why can't I break up with you?"

He smiled darkly.

"Because I said so."

Before she knew it, she found herself pinned on the floor by Dean. He was holding her hands above her head with one hand, his pointer finger of the other hand stroking one of her cheeks.

_So much for treating me like a porcelain doll…_she thought. _Hey, wait a minute…_

"You know," she started, "I seem to remember that YOU broke up with me."

"What? What are you talking about?" he asked, letting go of her hands.

"Yes. You did break up with me. You broke up with me when I told you about me attempting to commit suicide. You called me a fucking freak, you said that I should be in a mental institution and then that we were done. Nothing justifies your presence here. Not that me not telling you we were broken up would have justified anything anyway."

"Wh-what? I…I don't remember any of that! You're lying!"

Rory chuckled at that.

"You see, the thing is, I can't lie. I'm a very bad liar. Look at me, and tell me if I look like I'm lying."

Not getting any answer from him, she smiled.

"See, I'm not lying. Your hesitation gave you away. You remember too well that you did it. Why the hell are you here, Dean?"

As he was still sitting on her, he grabbed her hands again and raised them above her head. Then, smiling darkly, he knocked her unconscious.

*********************

Meanwhile, Jess was running. Not quite as fast as usual, but he was still running. He knew what Dean was capable of. In his opinion, Dean's place was in jail for life. He had broken so many girls' life in the few years he had been living in New York. And he probably managed to do some damage already in Stars Hollow. Maybe himself had a somewhat screwed up life, but Dean…he was a criminal-to-be. If he wasn't already. He hadn't gotten to destroying Rory yet, and that's what he was probably there for that night. So Jess had to get there as fast as possible…well, as fast as his flue would let him go, because he was always stopping, a coughing fit taking him.

After about a 10 minutes ride in the subway and 15 minutes running, he finally got to the old factory where he and the gang were meeting when he was still hanging out with them. He stopped in front of the door, taking a deep breath, and then he pulled the door open.

What he saw horrified him. Dean was sitting on top of Rory, who seemed to be unconscious, and he was holding her hands above her head. The good part was that he had gotten there in time. He hadn't started anything yet.

"Get the hell away from her, Forester" Jess said calmly, but threateningly.

Dean looked up, surprised. Then he smiled.

"Jess! Well, well, well. Fancy seeing you here. Can I help you with anything, man?"

"Yup, get the hell away from my girlfriend. You've done enough damage already with her. She doesn't need this."

As per Jess' request, Dean got off of Rory's immobile body.

"She doesn't need this?" Dean repeated.

"No. She has been through a lot. She felt betrayed by her mother and best friend, and from what she told me, you weren't better. You were always belittling her…You haven't changed, Forester. That's how you destroyed so many girls' life when you were here. No wonder why your parents decided to move away."

"My parents don't know anything about what I do when I'm out of the house. And it's better this way."

"Well they should know that their son is doing. He's a criminal."

"What do you know, Mariano? You're just jealous of all the girls I got."

"Me? Jealous? Are you kidding me? As opposed to you, I have huge respect for women."

"Who said I don't respect them?"

"Raping them is not showing them respect, if you ask me."

"You have no proof that I raped those girls."

"Yeah. Whatever."

He walked towards Rory, but Dean didn't let him get away that easily. He grabbed him by his jacket then punched him in the face. Jess, having no desire to fight, just got up from the floor and continued towards Rory. Seeing that, Dean lunged again, making him fall on the floor again. That's when Jess decided that he had had enough. He stood up, punched Dean with an uppercut under the shin then he gave him a direct on the nose. Jess felt Dean's nose break. The later toppled over in pain. With that, Jess went to Rory, coughing a bit. He kneeled down beside her and tried to wake her up.

"Rory" he said, "come on, wake up."

Nothing.

"Rory" he continued, slapping a bit her cheeks, "come on. You have to wake up. I can't carry you all the way home."

A few seconds later, Rory moaned and squinted her eyes before opening them. She saw Jess hovering over her.

"Jess?" she asked, confused. "What are you doing here?"

"You dialled our home's number with you cell while you were talking with Dean. I came to help you."

"Dean? Where is he?"

"Over there" he said, pointing somewhere in front of them, "I broke his nose."

Rory smiled.

"Don't take so much pride in this, Mariano" Dean's voice said. "This isn't over."

"The hell it's over!" Jess replied. "If you ever dare come back again and come near us, I'll have the police after you. I have enough proof to give you a lifetime in jail."

"You don't have proof!"

"Try me!"

With that, Jess helped Rory up and they left, going back to their apartment. As for Dean, despite his bleeding nose, he exited the old factory and went to the bus station, heading back to Stars Hollow.

_This isn't over_, he swore to himself.

_**So this is it for now. Merry Christmas to everyone**__**! Please leave a review, that would be a wonderful Christmas gift from you all!**_

_**If there is anything you want to happen or anyone you want to see in this story, just let me know in a review or PM me! I will happily consider each and everyone's idea!**_

Merry Christmas to everyone again, have fun, and I will try to update soon again while I'm on break!

_**Cheers!**_

_**RoRyJeSsAdDiCt**_


	17. Square One

_**Well hello everyone! I'm back in business! I'm sorry I haven't updated in almost 6 months, but college is somewhat very demanding...I hope you can forgive me (pout).**_

Here's my new chapter, please give a shout for Kassandra27, she helped me so much to get this chapter done. Thanks for being my beta!!! I dedicate this chapter to you!

Alright, enough with the babbling, I'll leave you to read. I put a little recap of the previous chapter since it's been a while. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: nope, don't own anything beside all 7 seasons' DVDs...

* * *

**_RECAP_

_"There you are" he said. "You usually come and wake me up and when you get back from school."_

_"What are you-u talkin' about?" his mom's voice said…well, slurred._

_He turned around quickly, frowning._

_"Mom? What are you doing here? Where's Rory?"_

_*********************_

_Meanwhile, somewhere in the city, Kevin and Rory were still walking. Kevin stopped in front of an old factory._

_"Kevin, what are you doing?" Rory asked. "You said there was a shortcut, and now I'm 1 hour late. What's going on? What are we doing here?"_

_"Hello Rory, fancy meeting you here. How have you been?"_

_"You see, these guys, Rory, are my friends. Before going to Stars Hollow, I was living here, in New York."_

_"These guys…were your…friends?" she stuttered. "Wha…how come you were so nice to me in the beginning?"_

_Dean, Kevin and the others started to laugh._

_"You know Rory" Kevin said, "Dean here was the Casanova in this group. But the thing is…he isn't the typical Casanova, if you know what I mean."_

_"Get the hell away from her, Forester" Jess said calmly, but threateningly._

_He stood up, punched Dean with an uppercut under the shin then he gave him a direct on the nose. Jess felt Dean's nose break. The later toppled over in pain._

_"Don't take so much pride in this, Mariano" Dean's voice said. "This isn't over."_

_"The hell it's over!" Jess replied. "If you ever dare come back again and come near us, I'll have the police after you. I have enough proof to give you a lifetime in jail."_

"You don't have proof!"

* * *

**PART 16 – Square One**

Back at the apartment, Jess brought Rory to their bedroom and helped her lie down on the bed. Seeing a bruise was forming on her forehead, he went in the kitchen to get some ice. Back in the bedroom, he sat down on the bed, made Rory sit up and put the ice on the bruise. After a while, Rory started to sob. Without a word, he gathered her in his arms and let her cry, whispering soothing nothings to her.

"What's going on?" Jess asked once she had calmed down a bit.

"Nothing..." Rory answered.

"Oh come on Rory," he said, not buying it. "You know you can talk to me. Is it Dean?"

"It's not just Dean...it's everything! Everything that happened tonight...I was scared, Jess!"

She started crying again. He said nothing, he just held her until she calmed down again.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Not tonight."

"Alright then. Let's go to sleep."

She nodded and stood up. Grabbing a few things, she made her way to the bathroom. In the meantime, Jess just stripped to his boxers and got under the covers. Rory came back a few minutes later, wearing one of his old t-shirts. She lay down, her back facing him. He lay down behind her and put his arm around her, gauging her reaction. Seeing that she wasn't protesting, he pulled her to him. And that's how they fell asleep.

A few days went by like this. Jess now feeling better, went back to school...and even if he hadn't felt better, he would have gone back anyway, not wanting Rory to have to face Kevin and the gang by herself. As for Rory, well...let's just say that she was in a zombie-like mode. She'd get up in the morning, get prepared for school, go to school, go back home, eat, do her homework, and then go to bed. Beside her usual "good morning" and "good night" to him, she hadn't talked much more. She'd talk only when spoken to.

About a week later, while he was in his English class, Jess decided he had had enough. That night, when he and Rory would be done with their homework, he'd make her talk whether she wanted to or not. Her silence was killing him. She had never shut him out for so long. She needed to face her demons once and for all so that she could move on.

In Rory's mind there had been a debate going on for about a week now. To tell or not to tell? That is the question. She honestly didn't even know why she was acting this way. She used to tell Jess everything, so why was she shutting him out of this? It's not like it would put him in danger or anything... Could it be because she was afraid of reliving her past? Yes, that must be it. Despite the fact that she trusted Jess completely, she still couldn't stop herself from being afraid of having her past come back and bite her in the ass. That's exactly what had happened the previous week when Dean showed up out of nowhere. To say she was shocked was nothing compared to how she was really feeling. She thought she'd never see him again. N-E-V-E-R.

With that, she came to the conclusion that she needed to face him. And that she needed to tell Jess all about her history with Dean. She had to move on. And in order to do that, she had to face everything. Come to terms with her past.

_I will talk to Jess tonight_, Rory decided. _And I will pay a visit to Dean this weekend._

With that, Rory reached across the aisle and grabbed Jess' hand. Surprised, he looked down at his hand, then at her. Seeing her smile, he smiled too, reassured. Everything would be alright.

"Mr. Mariano, Miss Gilmore, pay attention please!" the teacher called to them.

Surprised, the two lovebirds let go of each other and paid attention to the rest of the lesson. The bell rang a few minutes later, announcing the lunch break. After they had gathered their belongings, Rory and Jess filed out of the room and went to their respective locker to drop off their books. They met at the cafeteria.

"Everything okay?" Jess inquired as they stood in the queue to get something to eat.

"Yeah," she answered, giving him a small smile. "Can we talk tonight?"

"Sure," he said, pulling her to him to give her a quick kiss. "You know you can talk to me about anything."

"I know. I love you Jess."

"I love you too, Rory."

They took a few steps in the queue in silence.

"Jess?" she called, looking up at him.

"Hmmm?"

"Um...I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"For shutting you out like I did."

He sighed.

"Rory, you don't need to apologize. I understand."

"Really?"

He nodded in response.

"Okay then," she said with a smile.

He smiled back, gave her a quick peck on the lips, and then they stepped forward in line.

The rest of the day went by in a blur, Rory being back to her old self again. After school, they walked back slowly to their apartment, hand in hand, just enjoying being together. Once they were in the apartment, they got settled at the table for homework, and when they were done Jess cooked dinner while Rory went to take a shower to calm her nerves before their talk.

A few hours later, they were both lying in bed, face to face. Rory still hadn't said a word about what she wanted to talk about. But Jess knew better than to push her. She'd talk when she was ready...but still. They were now almost asleep, and she had said she wanted to talk. So what was holding her back? When he looked at her face, he saw that she was deep in thought.

"What's wrong?" he asked, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Um...don't think I'm mad at you or anything, ok? I'm just curious...but...did you know Dean before? Have you ever hung out with him? Why didn't you tell me?"

He sighed.

"Rory, I didn't know that your ex-boyfriend Dean was the same Dean I used to know. I'd never keep things like that from you. Please believe me. If I had known it was him, I would have been on the next bus for Stars Hollow before you could even think of it. I'm so sorry, I should've been there to protect you. I shouldn't have let you go to school by yourself. I should have thought about your safety before anything else. And god, if I hadn't gotten there in time...I'm sorry Rory...I'm just so sorry."

"Jess, you don't need to apologize. As you said, you didn't know. There's nothing to be sorry about. I should have known better than to trust Kevin. I don't know what went through my head. I should be the one apologizing."

"It's okay. It's not like we can go back in time anyway."

She smiled softly and leaned in for a light kiss.

"Jess," she began after a quiet moment, "did Dean really...no, wait...how was Dean when he was here? Was he really that asshole you make him out to be?"

"The analogy will probably seem strange, but Dean is like a coin. He has two sides. I'm sure you picked up on that. At school, he was the nice guy to everyone. Kevin probably told you he was the Casanova of the gang."

Rory nodded at that.

"Well it's the truth. He'd charm girl after girl. He would have a different one on his arm every day. At the beginning, it didn't bother me so much. Hell, I myself was a bit like that. But after a while, some girls I knew would come to school looking different...as if someone had killed their cat or something. At some point, I put two and two together. Those girls, they had been hanging out with Dean the previous day. So I started to get suspicious. Of course, I didn't go and talk about it with him, or with anyone in the gang, it would have been pointless. One night, I was at this party with the gang, in this huge house in Brooklyn. I went up to the second floor, looking for another bathroom, the one downstairs had a mile long queue. I was opening every door I could find. When I opened the last door on my left...god, I'll never forget what I saw that night...It opened on Dean and a girl, I think her name was Ashley, and they seemed to be having fun at first sight. But then I saw that Dean had a hand on her mouth to keep her from screaming. She had tears streaming down her face. Next thing I knew, I was pulling Dean off of the girl and telling her to run."

**FLASHBACK**

"_Mariano, what you just saw, you better __not tell anyone. Otherwise, I swear I will make you pay."_

"_You think I'm scared of you, Forester?"_

_Dean approached Jess and towered over him._

"_You should be, Jess. There's no one to watch your back. Who knows what I could say...or do?"_

_With that, Dean left the room, getting dressed as he went. Jess stood there for a moment before leaving the room to continue his search for a bathroom._

**END FLASHBACK**

"And that wasn't the last time that I found him forcing himself on a girl. I can't recall how many times, but it was enough to make the school somewhat different. A lot of girls were walking around the hallways their heads hung low, scared that any second a guy would touch them. He scarred those girls for life. And those girls, they don't dare report him to the police, because they know what he could do. Dean Forester is dangerous."

Rory gulped painfully, letting all this sinking in.

"Why did he say you have no proof of all this?"

"Well, that's what he thinks. But I had a cell phone at the time with which I could take videos. I have enough videos on my computer to get him in jail for the rest of his life."

"Then why didn't you bring all this to the police?"

"Because before I knew it, he was moving away. And since I didn't know where, I didn't see the point. There's also the fact that Kevin and the others would have wanted me dead if I had done it. So I was kind of stuck. I want to have him busted, but I kinda value my own life as well."

They were silent for a while.

"I'll do it then," Rory said.

"What?"

"I'll go to the police with the videos. I'll tell them everything. Dean doesn't deserve to wander around like this anymore."

Jess looked at her, frowning.

"Rory...what did Dean do to you? What happened when you were going out? Has he ever tried to... force you into anything? You need to tell me the truth, Rory...I need to know everything."

She looked down and bit on her lower lip, hesitating. She then sat up Indian style, her back to him. Jess understood her need to not look at him while telling her story.

"At the beginning, Dean was the sweetest. He'd pick me up in the morning to go to school, we'd go out on dates, dinner and movie most of the time. That went on for a few months. He was great at school too. I would sometimes find him waiting for me at the end of some of my classes. We'd eat alone together at lunch. But then he started hanging out with Chuck Presby. Chuck Presby is the Kevin of Stars Hollow. At first I thought it was just a phase, but that phase started going on too long for my taste. I sucked it up because I liked the attention I was getting from Dean too much. But then one day, it was after I had started hanging out with Dean and Chuck for a while, Dean would sometimes throw insults at me. I just shrugged it off at first, thinking it was nothing. But then, it became more regular, and he'd do it mostly when we were alone together. He'd say I was ugly. That I needed to lose some weight. I started doing as he said. I lost some weight, so he got off my back a little. But then it wasn't enough anymore. He started giving me every filthy name he could find. He'd say I'm worthless. That I was lucky I had him, because no one wanted of a piece of dirt like me."

At this, Rory started sobbing.

"Let me finish," she said softly, feeling him make a move to sit up.

Jess lay back down and waited for her to go on.

"There were these times when he would become sweet again for a while. One night, we were making out on the couch in my mom's house while she was still at work. I remember him trying to slide his hand underneath my shirt. I tried swatting away his hand 'cause I wasn't ready for that yet, but he took my hands and pinned them on top of my head with one of his hands, letting the other go under my shirt. I was lucky my mom came home early from work, because now that I think about it, I don't even want to imagine what would have happened that night. It was the only time he had tried to force himself on me, because not long after that I tried to commit suicide. When he learned about it, he came to see me at my house. He chose his moment. He waited for my mom to be gone. The look he had in his eyes...I will never forget it. It was like he was in a blind rage."

**FLASHBACK**

"_Why would you try to kill yourself, Rory, huh? You're worthless. I don't know what I'm doing with you. You're just good for nothing. It's no surprise Lane and your mom are drifting away from you. You're not worth anything to them."_

_With that, he slapped her. Once, twice, three times, until she fell to the floor. He then kicked her in the stomach a few times. He didn't want to leave any marks._

"_I'm wasting my time with you, Rory Gilmore."_

_And he left._

**END FLASHBACK**

"I cried for hours that night. Not because I was heartbroken, but because I was angry. Angry at myself for letting things get this far. Angry at myself for letting myself fall for that guy. Angry at myself because I had let him make me his puppet, his prisoner. A week later, I was on a bus to New York."

By the end of that sentence, Rory was sobbing uncontrollably. Jess took that as his cue. He sat up and reached out to her. Seeing that she wasn't protesting, he gathered her in his arms and let her cry out her pain and rage. He didn't say anything, he knew that she didn't need him to talk. She needed him to be the rock that she could hold on to, the one to save her life from the raging ocean of pain she was in.

It took a few hours for her cries to subside and for her to fall asleep. He fell asleep not long after, knowing what he had to do.

* * *

**_Please leave a review, tell me what you think, wether it's to praise me or insult me! Questions, comments, insults are welcome!_**


	18. Going Down in Flames

**_Hello everyone! Here's the next chapter, even though I didn't quite get the number of reviews I was expecting...come on guys, 2 reviews? You can do better than that!_**

**_Anyway...enjoy this chapter!_**

Thank you again to my wonderful beta Kassandra27 for her help, without her input and ideas, this chapter wouldn't have come out like this.

**_Disclaimer: Still don't own anything..._**

* * *

**  
PART 17 – Going Down in Flames  
**

The more the weekend was approaching, the more Rory was becoming anxious. She still hadn't told Jess about her plans to go and confront Dean, and she was still debating if she should tell him. But after what he told her about Dean, she was beginning to think that maybe it would be better if Jess went with her, in case anything was to happen...with that determined, she finally decided to tell Jess. Tonight. After dinner. And a movie...

_Ugh, I need to stop procrastinating, it does no good...,_ she thought. _And I also need to stop talking to myself, otherwise people will think I'm insane...if they don't already do..._

"Ugh!!" Rory groaned.

"What's wrong?" Jess asked, coming through the door.

Surprised, she turned around and smiled.

"Sorry," she said, "I was just thinking."

"About me, I hope," Jess asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Sorry, but nope."

Jess pouted. Rory laughed.

"What were you thinking about, then?" Jess asked, serious again.

Rory hesitated a bit, not knowing how to tell him.

_Well, just go and say it. Rip the band-aid off_, she thought.

"I was thinking about going to Stars Hollow to confront Dean once and for all..." she trailed off, biting her bottom lip.

Jess was silent for a moment, thinking it over.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked after a moment.

"Yeah. I need to move on, Jess. And confronting him will just help me to do it. The sooner, the better."

"Alright then. But I'm coming with you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

He gave her a slight smile then hugged her. After that, he kissed her quickly then went to go and make dinner. As he was putting the finishing touches to the meal, Rory was dressing the table, but then Liz came stumbling through the door.

"Great, just great," Jess mumbled.

"Helloooo," Liz exclaimed/slurred once she had closed the door.

"What are you doing here?" Jess asked, not moving from where he was in front of the stove.

"Well, Jessie, you know th-this is my apartment toooo, I have every rrrright to be here."

"How in the world would it be your apartment?" Rory suddenly asked. "You're not the one paying the rent, Jess is. And you're barely ever here."

"Wh-who are you t-to t-talk to me like this?" Liz asked, getting angry.

"I'm Jess' girlfriend," Rory replied, taking a few steps nearer to her supposed mother-in-law. "I've been living here for a few months now. A normal mother would remember that."

"I-I am a n-normal m-mother!"

"You sure as hell are not! You decide to come back whenever it suits you, whenever your boyfriend of the week just dumped you or something. If it wasn't for us taking care of the apartment, and Jess more than myself, I'm sure you would have been evicted a long time ago. A normal mother doesn't come home when it suits her. She should be there for her child all the time. Jess doesn't deserve this."

"That little punk sure de-deserves this! He has done n-nothing else than g-getting in trouble! He d-deserves this!"

"No he doesn't! He has been in some trouble, yes, but he's not hanging out with the trouble makers anymore. Since I've been here, he has done nothing more than take care of me and this apartment by working. Jess works his ass off to be able to pay the rent, when he also has to go to school every day! This isn't the kind of life a child should have. A child is supposed to be loved by its parents. Those parents are supposed to take care of that child, be there for him for every occasion: it's first steps, words, first day of kindergarten, first kiss, whatever…but Jess, he had to learn to take care of himself the minute he was born."

"Yeah, because his father bailed!"

"As a single mother, you should have played the role of both the mother and father, but no, getting wasted every night was more important. I may not have had a nice life in the last few years, but at least I have a mother who cares for me."

"Well why don't you go back to your life, princess, and let me live mine the way I want!"

"Hey!" Jess intervened. "You will not talk to Rory like that! She has been nothing but patient with you the last few months. It was about time someone gave you a piece of their mind, and I think there's no one better placed than Rory to do it! You may be a deadbeat mother, but you're still my mother! I still had some respect for you to not do it myself. But now…Just get out of my sight."

At that point, Rory was crying. Jess, who had walked to her when his mother had insulted his girlfriend, cradled her in his arms. Liz was standing there, stunned. After a while, she snapped out of it and stomped off to her bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her.

"It's gonna be alright, Ror," Jess whispered softly to Rory, trying to make her calm down.

After a while, Rory's tears subsided, but she remained in Jess' arms for a while longer.

"You okay?" Jess asked softly.

She nodded in his chest. Feeling she wasn't ready to talk just yet, he walked them to the couch and sat down, pulling her in his lap.

"I need to get out of here," Rory said after a while, looking up at him.

"Okay, we can go and take a walk or…"

"No, I mean, for longer than a walk. Let's head to Stars Hollow. Now. I want to confront Dean now. I'm in the right state of mind right now to do this. Please Jess."

He contemplated this for a minute. Skipping a few days of school wouldn't hurt them. They were near the top of their class anyway.

"Ok, let's do it."

With that, they went to their room to pack a few things, and then they were on their way. While on the road, Rory called her mother.

"_Blue?_"

Rory giggled.

"Hey mom."

"_Oh hi honey! What's up?_"

"Well I just wanted to let you know that Jess and I are heading to Stars Hollow as we speak. So I was wondering if we could crash in my old bedroom?"

"_Of course, Rory. You know you're always welcome. But why are you coming now? Isn't there school tomorrow?_"

"Well…yeah, but let's just say that a lot of things happened in the last week, and I needed to get away. Anyway, Jess and I are top of our class, so missing one day won't be a problem for us."

"_Alright then, babe. If you're sure. What happened?_"

"Um…can it wait for when we get there? I just want to clear my head right now."

"_Sure. I understand._"

"Thanks mom."

"_You're welcome. So when should I be expecting you?_"

"Well, we're almost at the Holland tunnel, so I'd say in about 2 hours?"

"_Ok, well I'll do my best to be home by then. If I'm not, you know where to find the spare key. Just make yourselves at home until I get there._"

"Ok. Thanks mom, see you later."

"_Later babe!_"

With that, Rory flipped shut her phone and laid back her head on the headrest, closing her eyes. A few minutes later, she was asleep. About 2 hours later, Jess parked the car in Lorelai's driveway.

"Hey Rory, come on, wake up. We're here," he said, shaking her a little bit, after he had turned off the engine.

She stirred, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Jess smiled softly at her when she looked at him, and she smiled back before she leaned in to kiss him softly.

"Come on, let's go in," Jess said after they had parted.

Rory nodded and got out of the car. Jess went to the trunk to get their bags while Rory walked to the front door and knocked. She was about to turn around to get the spare key from under the turtle, when the door opened, revealing a disheveled Lorelai.

"Hi!" Lorelai exclaimed breathlessly.

"Hey mom. What's going on?"

"Oh, I was changing upstairs. I was just putting on my sweatpants when you knocked, and you know me, it surprised me, so I fell over, and I was all tangled up. So I was trying to stand back up and pull my pants up, all while walking to the stairs, and since the pants weren't all the way up yet, I slipped on the first step, and ended up going down the stairs on my butt, but then I finally managed to pull on my pants when I got to the landing, and here I am."

At the end of her mother's little speech, Rory was hardly holding her laughter in, and Jess wasn't doing any better, having joined them at the door as Lorelai was retelling her little unfortunate event.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh at momma," Lorelai said, faking being mad. "See what will happen to you two sleeping in the same bed if you continue."

And that made them calm down right away.

"No fair," Jess grumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Lorelai inquired.

"Uh, nothing. Can we come in?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Come on in."

With that, they all filed into the house, Jess making a bee line for Rory's old bedroom to drop off their bags, while Rory and Lorelai went to sit on the couch.

"So, to what do I owe the honor of having you two here for four days?" Lorelai asked Rory.

"Some demon facing I have to do," Rory replied.

"Wha…"

"Hey Lorelai, where's Luke?" Jess asked, having just returned from the bedroom.

"Uh, he must be starting the close at the diner, why?"

"Oh, just wanted to know. I'll go and see if he needs any help, so the two of you can talk."

Lorelai frowned.

"Ok," she replied, perplexed.

With that, Jess left. Lorelai turned back to Rory.

"So what kind of demons do you have to face?"

"Well, first…Dean. And second…Lane."

"Dean? Why Dean?"

Rory sighed, and then told her mother all about what she had learnt about Dean from Jess. After her daughter's explanation, Lorelai was horrified.

"Oh my god…" she said after a while.

Rory nodded.

"Yeah…" Rory replied quietly. "So now I'm here to confront him once and for all. I need to move on from all this, and Dean is a major step to take."

"I understand. And why Lane? Didn't you call here a while ago?"

"Yeah, I did, but it didn't end very well. I'm not expecting everything to go back to the way things were before everything went spiraling downward, but I at least have some peace of mind. If she doesn't want us to be friends again, I'll understand, but I need to at least speak with her. Get everything out in the open."

Lorelai nodded, not saying anything.

"You're being very mature about all this," she pointed out after a moment of silence.

Rory smiled sadly.

"Well the last few months taught me a lot of things, mom. I can always somehow run away from my problems, but they always find a way to come back to bite me in the ass."

"So true."

Lorelai smiled softly at her daughter, and then pulled her in for a hug.

-----

"So what are you doing here?" Luke asked Jess.

"Rory's got some things she needed to take care of, I'm here for moral support," Jess answered grabbing a doughnut.

"I hope you intend on paying for that."

"What can you tell me about Dean?" Jess asked his uncle.

"Rory's boyfriend?"

"Ex-boyfriend," Jess corrected.

"Yeah, sorry. What about him?"

"He in town at the moment?"

"Yeah, got back from a trip to Chicago I believe."

"And where does he live?"

"Over on Peach, why? What are you going to do Jess?"

"Nothing, unfortunately I'm not stupid enough to bash his head into a brick wall, but Rory needs to talk to him, clear the air. She needs to let go and move forward."

"Sure, I never liked that kid."

"I know what you mean," Jess agreed.

"Hey Jess," Rory said timidly from the door. "I'm ready, are you ready?"

"Sure, I'll see you later Luke," Jess said as he headed for the door.

"Say goodbye before you leave," Luke called after him.

"So how's Luke?" Rory asked Jess.

"Good, and your mom? Did you get everything out in the open about Dean?"

"Yeah, she was shocked, I think everyone will be, Dean's become the town's golden boy."

"It's okay," Jess said comfortingly as he put his arm around her and drew her close. "We know the real Dean and that's all that matters. So where's Peach Street? We may as well get this over and done with. Then you can focus all your time and attention on Lane, get your friendship back, how does that sound?"

"Good, but I don't know if Lane will be so forgiving."

"She may surprise you, but let's deal with one problem at a time. Which one of these houses is his?"

"That one," Rory pointed to a house three houses down. "I don't think that I can do this Jess."

"Come on Rory, we're right here. You stood up to my mother, Dean will be easier."

"You're lying, but thank you. Well here goes nothing," Rory said determined as she approached Dean's house, Jess at her side. She walked up the porch steps and knocked on the door.

"Rory," Mrs. Forester said surprised as she opened the door. "Come on inside."

"We'll wait here thanks," Jess told her politely.

"Is Dean in?" Rory asked, shrinking into Jess' side for support.

"Sure, I'll just get him," Mrs. Forester said and then disappeared into the house.

Jess and Rory went to sit on the front steps while waiting for Dean. The next few minutes were silent, each wondering how everything would go. They didn't even have time to think of a way things could turn out because Dean stepped out the door.

"Well, well, look what we have here. Rory Gilmore and Jess Mariano. What the hell are you two doing at my house? Didn't I tell you to stay the hell away from me?"

"No," Jess frowned.

"Well I'm telling you now: stay the hell away from me. Stars Hollow is my territory."

"Your territory?" Rory asked. "Excuse me, but we're not here to discuss territory. We're not some kind of gang. I was here way before you anyway. This is more my territory than yours."

"What the hell are you two doing here?"

"I am here because I want you to tell me the truth," Rory said.

"The truth about what?"

"About you, Dean! Who the hell are you?"

"Dean Forester, 17 years old, born and raised in Chicago," Dean answered with a smirk.

Jess went to launch himself at him, but Rory held him back

"Jess, calm down. I don't need this," Rory said.

With that, Jess calmed down a little bit, but he still had his hands tight in fists.

"Wow, she's got you whipped, Jess!"

Jess' nostrils flared. Rory turned to Dean, furious.

"Well at least I'm not a sick bastard like you," Jess shot back.

Dean let out a loud humorless laugh.

"You have no proof, Mariano! So stop!"

"Oh, I've got proof, Forester. Wouldn't you like to know."

"How could you have proof, huh? You've never caught me. And what the hell does this have to do with Rory?"

"One, I did catch you. Three times. You even threatened me the third time not to tell anyone, because apparently there was no one to watch my back. Second, it does have to do with Rory, because you treated her like shit, like all the others girls you had. It's always the same shit, Dean. You charm them, then get into their pants, whether they want it or not. And I think it was more often when they didn't want it. As for Rory, well you found out at some point that she would be harder to get into your bed. You know, the typical small town girl, no harm intended Rory, loved by everyone in town. So you thought you'd play the nice guy for a while, charm your way into everyone's heart, especially her mother, so as to not raise suspicions. And when you thought you had got to everyone, that's when you started to show the real you, the bastard. Treating the girl like shit in private, but treating her like gold in public. What kind of sick bastard does that, Dean, huh?"

At that point, Dean was fuming. He knew that was it. So in a last desperate attempt to get the two to shut up, he lunged at Jess, punching him in the face twice, kneeing him in the stomach, and so on. Meanwhile, Rory was in hysterics. She was desperately trying to get Dean away from Jess, but at every attempt, he'd push her away roughly. At her god-knows-how-many attempt, Dean was so furious that he hit her in the face and stomach, sending her to the ground. Seeing that, Jess saw red. He lunged at Dean, sending him flying down the porch stairs, and efficiently knocking him unconscious. As Jess was kneeling down next to Rory to see how she was, Mr. and Mrs. Forester came out the door and someone was walking up the driveway. The person kneeled down next to Dean and tied his hand with handcuffs, then he walked towards the four people on the porch.

"What's going on here?" Mr. Forester asked, starting for his son, but the mysterious man stopped him.

"Mr. Forester? I'm Detective John Creasey. A detective for the NYPD. I have been investigating for a few years now on a serial rapist. The man raped about a dozen girls, and that's only in the New York City area. I believe similar events happened in other towns you've lived in. This young man here (he pointed to Jess), came to me one day and showed me three videos of the same man that he caught at three different times, raping girls. He told me he knew the guy, but he feared for his and his girlfriend's lives if the man was to catch wind that he had talked to someone. I saw the videos, and we can clearly see that it's your son that raped those girls. I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Forester, but your son is under arrest for multiple rape and attempted rape on a dozen girls, and also for manhandling on the person of Rory Gilmore. I'd suggest for you to call your lawyer. If you don't have one, the Department of Justice of the State of New York can provide you with one. You will be notified as to the when and where of Dean Forester's trial. Do you have any questions?"

Mr. and Mrs. Forester shook their heads no, too shocked to speak.

"Will we have to testify?" Rory asked quietly.

"Most likely," Detective Creasey answered. "But if need be, we can arrange something so you won't be in the court room to do your testimony."

"Thank you," Rory replied with a sad smile.

Detective Creasey put a comforting hand on her shoulder, then went to help Dean, who was just waking up, off of the ground to take him to his car.

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**_Please press the nice grey with green writing button! You know you want to!_**


	19. A New Beginning

**_Hey everyone! This is the first to last chapter of this story. The last chapter will come within the next few days. I just want as much reviews as I can get!_**

_**I hope you will like this chapter. I'm quite proud of it.

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**_

**PART 18 – ****A New Beginning**

After Detective Creasey's departure, Rory and Jess walked back to Lorelai's house. Dean's parents had tried to talk to Rory, but she was too out of it to be able to form any coherent thought. Jess had politely told them that if Rory was feeling up to it, she'd come and talk to them later, and bid them farewell. Once back at the house, Rory went directly to her bedroom with no word towards her mother. Worried, Lorelai tried to go after her, but Jess stopped her.

"Give her some time," he told Lorelai. "Dean was arrested tonight, and she's still in a state of shock. The fact that it's all over hasn't really sunk in yet. She'll be better in the morning."

"Alright," Lorelai gave in, reluctantly.

With that, Jess turned around to go to the bedroom.

"Hey Jess?" Lorelai called quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

He frowned.

"For what?"

"For taking care of her. I can see how good of a job you do. I haven't seen her this happy in years."

Embarrassed, Jess scratched the back of his neck.

"Um…you're welcome, I guess…I just give her what I think she deserves."

Lorelai smiled softly.

"Goodnight, Jess."

"Goodnight."

Jess turned back around and made his way in Rory's bedroom, Lorelai watching him. After a few seconds, she smiled softly again, then turned around and made her way back to the couch, waiting for Luke to arrive to go to bed.

-----

The next day, as Rory was lounging on the couch reading a book, Jess appeared suddenly next to her, phone in hand. Rory looked at him curiously.

"What are you doing with the phone?" she asked him.

"Handing it to you." He replied.

"Ok. Why?"

"Because you need to call Lane."

"I need to call Lane…?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Because you have some unresolved matters between you."

"Can't it wait until next time we come down?"

"No."

"Why?"

"You know you sound like a two year old right now?"

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Forget it. It can't wait because it'll be staying on your mind until then. It has been on your mind for quite a while, and I want you to feel better. Lane is the last person you need to talk to. You need to do this Ror."

"Fine," Rory said after a moment and grabbed the phone, dialing the Kim's.

"Hello, Kim's Antiques. Everything is 20% off."

"Hello, may I please speak with Lane?"

"One moment please."

As she was waiting for Lane to pick up, Rory became more and more nervous. Just as she heard Lane from afar, she threw the phone at Jess.

"Hello?" Lane said on the other end of the line before Jess could say anything to Rory. "Hello?"

"Um…hi, is this Lane?" Jess asked.

"Um, yes. Who is this?"

"Jess."

"Jess…?"

"Jess Mariano."

"I don't know anyone who's named Jess Mariano. Who are you?"

"Listen Lane, I'm Jess Mariano, Rory's boyfriend. She cowered out of talking to you on the phone in order to set up a meeting with her so you two can talk things over. Can you tell me when you are available?"

There was a moment of silence on Lane's end.

"I'm available now. What about her?"

"Same for her."

"Okay. And, um…where should I meet her?"

"Meet us at Luke's diner. You know where it is?"

"Jess, this is Stars Hollow."

"Right, sorry. So, Luke's diner in what… half an hour?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Okay. We'll see you there. Bye."

"Yeah, bye."

With that, Jess hung up and turned back to face Rory, who was staring at him with wide eyes.

"What?" he asked, seeing her expression.

"Half an hour?! Half an hour, Jess?! Are you freaking out of your mind? I'm not ready for it to be so soon!"

"Rory, as much as I hate to say this, you will never be ready anyway. You need to talk things out with Lane, and the sooner the better. You can't pass up this opportunity."

Rory put down her head in her hands and sighed. There was a moment of silence before she spoke again.

"Alright. But you'll be there, right?"

"Yes. But I won't participate in the conversation. I won't be far."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I was thinking that you two could go sit on the bench across from the diner, and I'll stay in the diner. I'll watch from afar. That way, I won't overhear something that doesn't concern me, but I'll be close enough if something happens."

Rory thought about this for a moment.

"Seems logical," she said.

"I'm glad you think so too. Now come on, let's get to the diner, Lane's meeting us there."

"Okay."

They both stood up and walked out the door. About 10 minutes later, they arrived at the diner and sat down at the counter. Luke came out of the kitchen and went to see them.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?"

"We're meeting Lane here." Jess answered.

"Okay…may I ask why?"

"Rory's going to talk things out with her."

"Ah."

Without another word, Luke put a mug in front of Rory and filled it with coffee. Rory looked up at him, surprised.

"Don't make a habit out of it," was all Luke replied.

But Rory had very well understood his intentions behind it. Sometime later, the bell above the door chimed and Lane came in, looking as nervous as Rory was. She took a few steps towards Rory and Jess.

"Hey guys," she said.

Rory and Jess turned around on theirs stools.

"Hey Lane," Rory replied quietly.

Silence.

"So you're Lane," Jess said.

Lane nodded. Silence again.

"Okay you two. Enough with this. You're gonna go and sit on the bench right there," he said, pointing to the bench across from the diner, "and you're gonna resolve whatever's wrong between the two of you."

At that, he practically pushed them out the door and went back to his stool at the counter. He sat so that he could see what was going on. The girls slowly walked to the bench and sat down. He could see there was an awkward moment of silence between the two, but then Lane started saying something. From there, the conversation flowed, and Jess smiled softly.

"You're good," Luke said from beside him, thoroughly impressed.

"Well, someone's gotta step in when she's too damn stubborn to do something."

Luke patted him on his shoulder and went to attend to a table.

****Meanwhile, outside****

Once out the door, Rory and Lane briefly looked at each other and started walking to the bench on the other side of the street. There was an awkward moment of silence once they had sat down.

"I'm so sorry Rory," Lane said so quietly that Rory wasn't sure she had even talked.

"What did you say?"

Lane sighed.

"I said I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for the way I treated you. I now realize that I only succeeded in pushing you away when you needed me the most. I was your best friend; I should have noticed something was off!"

"And I should have talked to you instead of keeping things to myself and wait for someone to notice. I'm as much to blame as you are. I shouldn't hold you responsible for my misery. I didn't help myself in this matter."

"True."

There was another moment of silence, more serene this time, now that everything was out in the open.

"Well, that wasn't so hard," Rory said tentatively.

Lane laughed softly.

"Yeah. I'm glad we talked things out. I've missed you."

They hugged for a moment.

"I've missed you too," Rory replied once they had pulled away.

They stayed outside for another while, catching up with each other, rediscovering their friendship. They didn't talk about Rory staying in New York. Lane understood that her best friend needed this. She couldn't heal in Stars Hollow. Too much had happened there.

After a while, Jess came out and sat with them. Rory properly introduced the two, and they discovered they had similar interests, mostly when it came to music. Rory smiled when Jess and Lane had a debate over Coldplay being an alternative band or not.

She couldn't ask for more.

* * *

_**Please press the nice grey with green writing button and leave a review! It means so much to me to know what you think of it!**_

_**Cheers!**_

_**RoRyJeSsAdDiCt  
**_


	20. Undisclosed Desires

_**Alright, this is it guys, the last chapter to this story. Short, I know, but I think it's where it should end.**_

_**I hope you will enjoy it.

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**_

**PART 19 – Undisclosed Desires**

"_I want to reconcile the violence in your heart_

_I want to recognize your beauty's not just a mask_

_I want to exorcise the demons from your past_

_I want to satisfy the undisclosed desired in your heart"_

- Muse, Undisclosed Desires.

Rory was sitting on a bench in the park that she now knew as Washington Square Park (she hadn't known the name of the park when she had first arrived in the city), and she was reading. She was too absorbed in the story to notice that someone had sat beside her, throwing their arm around her. She jumped, startled, when the arm made contact with her shoulder. She looked up sharply at the person, but her expression softened when she saw it was Jess.

"Hey stranger," he said with a crooked grin.

"Hey," she replied before leaning in for a kiss.

"I was a bit worried when I found your side of the bed empty earlier. Good thing you left a note on the table, or I would have freaked out."

Rory looked a bit sheepish at that.

"Sorry," she said.

Jess laughed softly.

"It's fine. I would just like it better if you left the note nearer, like on the pillow or something, so that I don't call your name like a moron in the apartment for nothing."

"Sorry. I'll leave it on the bedside table next time."

He kissed her temple as a thank you.

"What are you reading?" he asked.

She showed him the cover of the book.

"Ayn Rand? Are you kidding me?"

Rory frowned.

"No, why?"

"If you want a remedy to insomnia, you have it your hands. She's a political nut!"

"Blasphemy! Nobody can write a 40 pages monologue like she does!"

And there started another of their debates…

Things weren't as perfect as she had wanted, but Lorelai was content with the way things were now. At least, she wasn't fighting with her daughter anymore. If anybody asked her how were things, she would answer they were perfect. She had a wonderful boyfriend in the person of Luke, she was back in good terms with her daughter, and she had a son-in-law/nephew (not that she thought about it often, it's way too disturbing) that knew how to take care of her daughter and who could hold his ground when needed. She didn't think things could be better.

If you had told him a year ago that he would find someone that would help him get his shit together, Jess would have laughed in your face. Never would he have expected someone like Rory to come into his life. Now? He wouldn't have it any other way. It wasn't quite perfection, they had both their ups and downs either with themselves, each other or his mother, but they overcame everything every time.

Happy, complete...so fucking happy. That's what Rory Gilmore would answer if you asked her how she was feeling. She had a roof over her head, a mother, a stepfather/uncle and a best friend. Her mother, Lorelei Victoria Gilmore, was in a relationship with Luke Danes (the stepfather/uncle and boyfriend's uncle), but they were almost back to the way they were before everything happened. As for her father, Christopher Hayden, he still hadn't shown up. She had left him a message while she was in Stars Hollow the previous weekend, but she didn't get any reply. And the best friend, well...she could say things were back to normal, well as normal as they could be with Lane Kim. Lane Kim had been distant ever since that Dave Rygalski guy had shown up at school. He definitely was a cool guy. He had the "best friend approved" stamp. He even managed to befriend Jess. That was definitely something. She had gotten her best friend back. Dean Forrester, her ex-boyfriend, well…he was now waiting for his trial for manhandling, and there were also trials waiting for him in other states for raping and attempted rape.

And then…there was her boyfriend. Jess could be rough around the edges sometimes, but he had softened a lot since their first meeting. He wouldn't admit it, of course, wanting to keep his reputation intact, but he had. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

_**Thank you so much for bearing with me for so long...for the people that read this until the end. This was the first fanfic I knew deep down that was good (in the ones I have finished, at least).**_

_**I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**_

_**Thank you so much to Kassandra27 for being my beta! You helped me so much to get this story together.**_

_**Check out my other stories on my profile, mostly Common Passion and Tomorrow Starts Today! New chapters (for Tomorrow Starts Today) should come out soon.**_

_**Cheers!**_

_**RoRyJeSsAdDiCt  
**_


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